Lightning Only Strikes Once
by the ramblin rose
Summary: Picks up after Season 2 and looks at the relationship between Daryl and Carol as the group struggles to make a life in the world of the undead. It's an eventual Caryl fic. I'm really bad at summaries...please don't judge me. Daryl, Carol, Caryl Whole group participation should be expected. My OC, Alice, is in this one as well. M for violence, sexual content, language
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So here it is, the first chapter. **

**I don't own the Walking Dead or anything about it…I don't make any money off of this…etc. etc. It's just for fun. The only thing I own are my original characters. **

**My cover image came from Google.**

**This is going to be an eventual Caryl story. I want to make sure that everyone understands that by that I mean that eventually the two will be a couple, but it's not going to be anything quick or immediate by any stretch of the imagination. So settle in and enjoy the story and know it's coming but it's not here yet and it's not just ahead.**

**This story is going to pick up just after they've left Hershel's farm. I'm reinterpreting what's already happened and what will come to suit my own desires for the story. That means that though I'm keeping lightly to what happened in Seasons 1 and 2, there will be changes. Also, I'm going to keep some of the action of Season 3 as it happened, but most everything is subject to change to suit my needs. I just want you to know in case you're someone who's bothered when people don't follow the story lines rigidly. They certainly won't be followed exactly in this tale. There is also an OC that's going to play a large role in the story. If you've read my story Phantom Hearts, then you already know Alice. If you haven't then you'll be meeting her soon enough. If you know her already, though, know that she is like the other characters and changes to fit her new setting. **

**So here's the first chapter, just to set the mood and get us introduced a little to what we're dealing with. I'll try to have something else up for you soon, since if you know anything about me then you know I love having a million things going on in life! **

**I hope you enjoy, and let me know if you think you're going to be interested. I appreciate all reviews since they are really the only form of payment any of us receive for fanfic writing and they make me anxious to get more out to the people I know are writing.**

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Daryl kept his head down and ignored the sting of the rain as it slapped against his face. He tightened his grip on the handlebars just enough, the bike surging forward only a bit more than it had before. He was leading the pack and for him the scenery changed constantly.

He preferred to be out in front, though. He'd rather go headfirst into whatever was ahead than linger in the back and watch the caravan as they trekked across roads not knowing really where they were or where they were going. They had the maps, but the maps were almost a joke. From one place to another the pieces of paper had been folded and unfolded, studied and restudied, until they were worn soft in places and damaged enough to be hardly interpretable in others.

They didn't know where they were, not really. They were in Georgia, that much they knew. Daryl hadn't seen them cross any state lines yet, and he'd be the one to know if they had. So that's essentially all they had going for them. Rick pretended he knew where they were going. Hershel pretended he knew all the places they'd been. But it was really Daryl who was leading the parade and he didn't have a fucking clue about either of those things. All he knew was they had to keep going.

They'd left the farm weeks ago, maybe months ago. If it weren't for the seasons Daryl might have even suspected it could have been years ago. No one paid attention to time. There wasn't any reason to pay attention to it. Time didn't mean much these days. The only time that mattered was that between sun up and sun down, and the time before the process repeated itself.

They were running. Like rats from a burning barn they were running, and that was all there was to do. For the time being it was the best thing and the only thing. They ran until they had to stop. Road weary and nearly dead at times they stopped where they could. They sought shelter in abandoned houses, stores, gas stations. If it had walls and a roof and could be secured enough for a few hours repose from the road, then it was just about the best damn place they could hope for.

So they hopped from spot to spot like a depressing circus caravan. Rick talked about finding somewhere. Holding up against the world around them. He had a reason to want to stop too, and Daryl didn't pretend that he couldn't understand it somewhat.

Lori was pregnant and her expanding size let everyone know that the baby wasn't going to wait forever. No one had informed the little asshole that this wasn't the best time and that life on the road wasn't any life at all for a kid. The thing kept growing and Rick kept getting jumpier and jumpier about it, despite the obvious strain on their relationship.

Everyone knew the kid wasn't Rick's and anyone with eyes and half a brain could see that the strain of the whole damn thing was about to crack Rick right in half. The kid was more than likely Shane's, and that had been a mess all its own. Rick had to kill the fucker. Daryl knew from Rick the details of what had happened that night, and he didn't blame Rick at all. Honestly if it had been up to him he'd probably have put an arrow through Shane Walsh a few times for his attitude if he were Rick. The man was a reckless hot head and that was the last fucking thing they needed if they wanted to survive in the pits of the hell that they'd found themselves in now that the dead thought feasting on the living was a good damn idea.

Being wound a little tight was one thing, and really everyone in their group had every right to be pulled just as tight as the strings on a guitar, but it didn't mean that you needed to be reckless. You certainly didn't need to try to eat your own. At this point they had enough shit trying to eat them without having to worry about turning on each other.

And for that reason Daryl stayed out of things a good deal. He kept to the sidelines when they were stopped and minded his own damn business. He overheard conversations and he listened when Rick had ranted to him about the anger he felt toward Shane…the anger he felt toward Lori…his uncertainty about the probable bastard child she carried. Daryl listened, but he stayed to himself as much as possible.

That was also why he liked leading the pack. On his bike it was him and the road, charging forward instead of looking back. He didn't need to look behind him. He knew what the fuck was behind him. Herds and herds of Walkers all following them until the ends of the Earth, that's what the hell was behind him.

He liked the solidarity and the relief from being cramped in the tight spaces that they shared when they did decide to stop and decided to swap back and forth the same idle chitchat about where they might end up. He liked the quality time with the bike that he'd inherited when his dumbass brother had gone and disappeared off the roof where Rick had handcuffed him because he was too damn strung out to know his ass from a whole in the ground.

Merle, Daryl's brother, had been the only damn person in his life that had even been semi-constant and he was the only person that Daryl ever let in even a fraction of the way. They'd been through hell together with his parents and then Merle had disappeared. He'd done stints in Juvy, he'd done stints in prison, and for a few years he'd paid his debt to Uncle Sam in the military. Anything to get the fuck away from their old man. He'd left Daryl behind then, but Daryl had tried to forgive his sorry ass as best he could. He'd have gotten the fuck out too if he could have.

And now Merle was really gone. Daryl had no idea if the big dumb asshole was even alive anymore or if he'd already gone to wherever the hell it was that his ass was going at the end of it all. What Daryl did know was that they were on the move, and Merle wasn't with them. Though he suspected they were doing big ass loop de loos around the entire green state of Georgia, he didn't know if they'd ever cross paths with his brother again…assuming the bastard was alive…and so Daryl figured that he could probably count him out. It was probably better that way anyway. Really one of the only people he'd ever given a hot damn about was long gone and the world was gone to hell.

The bike shifted a little with the movement behind him and Daryl compensated, keeping from spilling to the ground at the pressing speed he'd chosen despite the stinging rain. He reached his hand just back a little, daring to remove it from the handlebars, and dug his fingers into Carol's thigh in case she'd fallen asleep behind him. He knew her face was pressed against his back, likely seeking relief from the biting water, but her grip was lax and she only typically shifted when she was beginning to doze from the absolute exhaustion of the road and the mind numbing repetition of trying to keep a few days ride ahead of the herds that trailed them.

Carol…there was that. Daryl didn't know quite what to do with the woman on the back of his bike. He wasn't sure what the relationship between them was, exactly…or if there was anything at all. He sometimes thought that he was making it up and reading some shit in the tea leaves that just wasn't there.

He didn't have any experience with women. One or two clumsy fucks along the way with drunken women did not an impressive track record make. Most of them were out of their panties and on his dick before he even knew what the hell was happening and they were out the door just as quickly.

That summed up his entire romantic life right there. A quick fuck here or there from a strung out woman that, as far as Daryl knew, didn't have a fucking name and probably didn't even know the difference between him and his brother.

Carol wasn't at all like those women. The closest he'd ever seen her to drunk was the night at the CDC when she'd had a whopping two glasses of wine. The liquid hadn't even left her seeming drunk either. She'd been a little pink cheeked, and she'd smiled and laughed more than he'd seen her laugh since he met her, but she hadn't so much as weaved at all as she'd passed him in the hall that night headed to the room where she was sleeping. She wasn't the kind of woman that got drunk and crawled unceremoniously on some man's dick.

Daryl didn't know why he felt drawn to the woman, but he did. She'd been married, from what he could tell, to one sorry son of a bitch who had met his match outside of Atlanta and not a moment too soon. Daryl figured the world was always better off without men like that. He'd seen when Carol had put a pick axe through what was left of the man's head and he'd seen the anger boiling there inside her. All of them had seen the bruises, the black eyes, the busted lips in their time together with Ed, the asshole. They'd heard some of the sounds coming from their tent and had their own ideas about what had happened behind the flaps of cheap ass imitation cloth, but when Daryl saw Carol's face the day she laid Ed's sorry ass to hopefully burn in some fiery pit somewhere…Daryl realized that it was nothing new to her. Ed's actions hadn't started with the outbreak of the living dead. Daryl Dixon knew what long term abuse looked like, and he'd seen it written all over her face. The anger she felt boiled out of her, and he hated that he knew deep down it was justified.

And then, as though her obvious shit show of a life needed to be even more fucking exciting, Daryl had watched the woman fall apart as she lost her child. He'd never wanted one damn thing in his life half as bad as he wanted to give that woman her kid back. He didn't even like kids, but he knew what the hell it felt like to lose in life, and it was obvious she'd pretty much lost every damn thing she gave half a fuck about when that little girl had disappeared.

The girl might have been saved too…Daryl couldn't help but wonder. If any of the others had given even half the damn that he'd given about returning that kid to her, she might have been safe in her arms right now instead of Walkerfied and laid to rest in the cold ground at Hershel's burned out farm. Daryl wasn't the kind of man who had any luck at all besides bad luck and God wasn't exactly smiling down on him and wanting to hand him any favors. He hadn't yet and he wasn't likely to want to start any time soon. He'd known, because of that, that he wasn't likely to find the girl and save her, and he was right. He wasn't meant to be a hero and none of the assholes in camp that were wired to be heroes had done anything about it.

They'd been too busy rolling amongst themselves over Lori's stupid ass. Daryl didn't give a shit if he ever got a decent piece in his life, so long as it never led him to a woman like Lori Grimes. She'd been a hot damn mess the whole time he'd known her and he felt like her ass had served to make this living hell just a little worse than it had to be. He knew it wasn't fair to blame everything on the woman who looked like the living version of Olive Oyl, she didn't bring the dead back to life after all, but short of that there wasn't much that had happened to their group that he didn't feel he could hold her accountable for.

Rick had damn near busted his nuts to come back for the bitch and she was shacking up with Shane. Daryl thought off the bat that showed a little poor judgment on her part, but he hadn't really cared all that much in the beginning. Let them handle the shit with the little woman. It was only really when the whole damn thing turned into a giant pissing contest between the two men that things got rocky. From then on it seemed that every damn thing they did was in Lori's best interest instead of in the interest of the group. Now she was knocked up and couldn't even seem to keep her hands on that slippery little son of a bitch she had as a kid already.

Daryl knew, though, that most of his anger toward Lori might be misdirected. He was still angry about the little girl and he was angry that he wasn't good enough to save her. He'd hated seeing the defeat and the loss in Carol's eyes when she'd realized the kid was gone for good. There wasn't any coming back from where she'd gone.

No…Daryl didn't know why he cared so much, and he tried his best to keep some sort of distance between himself and Carol. He didn't trust the way he felt about her. It had never gone so well for him to care about anyone in his life.

So he considered her a friend and nothing more. Somewhere, if they kept going and they kept living and the herds closing in around them didn't tear them limb from limb one night, he assumed that Carol would find someone. She was friendly and warm with everyone. Everyone seemed to like her, except maybe Shane, and Daryl had already decided that Shane's brain was fucked up because of Lori, so he didn't even count him among rational human beings. He was dead and gone now anyway.

Yes, one day Carol would find someone out there if she lived and maybe they'd make up, somehow, for the fact that Ed had been an asshole and Daryl hadn't found her kid before she crawled out of a barn, dead and snarling.

At least Daryl had her as a friend, and he felt like she cared for him as a friend. She had been kind to him, and that was something he couldn't say about most people in the world. She'd showed him, in the short time that he'd known her, more kindness than anyone else that he could remember.

That's why, he supposed, he felt somewhat protective over her. He hadn't been able to give her back her kid, but if he could he figured he owed it to her to at least help her keep what sorry excuse for a life she had and give her the chance to do better with it sometime.

When they'd left the farm so many nights before, when all hell had really broken loose, it had been a chaotic cloud of screams and roaring engines. Walkers, fire, gunshots…the shit had really hit the fan. Daryl had hung back a bit and watched as his comrades roared off in their vehicles…the ones that were lucky enough to make it out alive. He'd sat back, on his bike, watching the barn that had held the little girl as it burned away to a skeleton and collapsed in on itself.

He'd figured he'd catch up with them all somewhere down the road, or he wouldn't. There really wasn't any way to tell what the fuck would happen these days. He'd sat there, a little longer than he intended, judging exactly how long he could wait and watch until he had to go to keep from the slobbering fuckers catching up to his ass.

He had already assumed that she was dead then. He wasn't expecting anyone to save her and she'd been far too far away from him when the shit show had begun for him to do a damn thing about it. The group didn't give much of a damn about her. Everyone cared for their own first and the others second, and she had no one to call her own. Just like him she was alone now.

So when he'd heard her scream, once and then again, he'd almost thought it was some kind of hallucination. His brain playing tricks on him that the woman was still alive. She was his friend, and he'd bothered to give some kind of a damn about her…he certainly hadn't expected her to live after that. It was almost like a curse for him to care at all about someone.

He'd raised up on his bike a little, the swarms of Walkers playing tricks on his eyes, and he'd seen her then, streaking across the field, running from the drooling freaks. She'd just been running to try to prolong the last few minutes of her life, probably. She wouldn't have outrun them much longer and everyone else was gone. They'd left her ass behind, figured her for dead. Queen Lori was probably alive, Daryl figured, so what the fuck did anyone else matter?

He'd pulled up, though, and she'd gotten on the back of his bike with literally seconds to spare before some Walker snatched her back. Daryl hated having anyone ride bitch on his bike, but he'd liked when they were on the road, riding through the straggling Walkers of the herd. He'd felt an odd sensation of happiness sweep over him at knowing she was alive, though he hadn't told her that, and he wouldn't.

Since then she'd rode bitch with him the whole damn way. It hadn't been discussed, really, it had just silently been agreed upon that she would go with him on the bike, and they'd lead the rest of the group that they met up with later, taking a head count of who was left after the showdown at the O.K. Corral.

She was his friend, and maybe the only real one he'd ever had, and he didn't mind her riding with him. He'd rather have her on the back of the bike or cramped up in a corner near him wherever they stopped, than left to hope that in the overwhelming need to make sure that her highness Lori got whatever the fuck she needed, someone still bothered to try to make sure that Carol wasn't snatched right out of the group and devoured before anyone even noticed anything except Lori's whining over some case of the hiccups.

Carol's arms tightened around Daryl's midsection a little and he realized she was awake again if she'd fallen asleep before. He knew she was dog ass tired. He assumed they all were unless some of them were sleeping in vehicles.

They had to find somewhere to call it a night. They could spare a couple of hours of downtime, passed out somewhere, and then it would be right back on the road. Daryl knew they'd have a short conversation, as they always did, about where they'd been and where they were headed. They'd talk about the need to find somewhere safe, somewhere they could lay low for a while, but the fact of the matter remained that they hadn't found that place yet and Daryl wasn't sure if they weren't just chasing rainbows in thinking that they would find it.

Not a mile ahead, Daryl brought the bike to a stop in what appeared to be an abandoned truck stop. It wasn't Buckingham Palace, but they could clear the place out and it would serve the purpose for the night. There might be something to eat and some water to keep them going, and that was all the fuck they could really ask for.

Daryl got off the bike and stretched his numb and tired muscles. He held an arm out to support Carol as she got off and she offered him a thank you and the same sweet smile she always gave him, regardless of how bone tired they all were from the road.

Daryl stood beside Carol and waited as the other vehicles pulled to a stop nearby and what was left of their group spilled out, stretching and coming to life from the road.

"You think this is a good place?" Rick asked, walking over to Daryl.

Daryl shrugged a little looking at the truck stop. Damn place could be haunted for all he knew. All that really mattered at the moment was that they got some rest before they all fell asleep and killed themselves on the road.

"Good a place as any," Daryl said.

Rick looked tired end he pinched at the bridge of his nose.

"We need to move in, clear it out. Hopefully it's not too bad," Rick said.

Daryl didn't know how many Walkers they would find in there, but he figured there were less in there than there were moving around outside, heading in their direction.

"Let's do it," Daryl said.

Rick turned to Carol before motioning toward the others.

"Get the stuff ready to bring in. We'll get the place cleared out as quickly as possible," Rick said.

Daryl took his crossbow and stretched his knees once more. Glenn and T-Dog joined him and Rick and they stepped inside. The place was pretty well deserted and the four of them really weren't necessary to clean out the three Walkers they found lurking in the shadows of the building.

Once they were convinced it was clear, they started back toward the door. Outside everyone else was waiting, holding just what they would need for the night, and probably hoping there was something they could eat inside.

The lightning cracked and Daryl realized the storm around them was getting worse.

"Let's get these fuckers outta here an' get everyone inside 'fore they all get fuckin' struck by lightning," Daryl said.

"It's getting back," Rick said. "I was beginning to wonder if it was safe for you and Carol to be out in it on the bike."

Daryl shrugged and stepped outside.

"Ain't nothin' to worry about. Rain stings like a bitch but lightnin' ain't gon' strike no damn movin' bike," he called.

"Start moving inside," Rick called to everyone else. "We're going to clean the Walkers out and we'll stay for the night. We move at sunup."

Daryl watched as everyone started filing in and he walked over to his bike flipping up the cover on the saddlebag. Carol had already taken his stuff inside, as evidenced by the mostly empty bag, so he turned back to go and help with the rest of the cleanup crew.

They could rest for a night, but they'd better move their asses, storm or not, the next morning if they wanted to stay ahead of what the hell was coming for them.

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**AN: I hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Holy lawnmower, Batman! Thank you all for the kind reviews to the first chapter! I'm so glad that you seem enthusiastic about the story! I really do appreciate it! **

**In fact, I thought you were all so lovely that I'd go ahead and write the second chapter for you, even though I hadn't intended to write it this evening.**

**I really hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think! **

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The truck stop was such a welcomed sight that Carol couldn't be happier to see it if it had been a Ritz Carlton. Just the thought of getting off the bike for a little while was about as great a gift as she could hope for in the moment. Everything ached. The lower half of her body was numb…her whole body was almost numb, in fact. It was to the point that they rode so long and the breaks were so short that she felt like her teeth kept vibrating long after she'd crawled off.

But she'd ride on the bike as long as she could without complaint. No matter whether they were riding in nice weather where the wind and the sun felt good, except for the occasional burn, or whether they were riding in the biting rain, she felt safe and comfortable on the bike.

She knew it was Daryl that did that for her. The very air surrounding the man felt like a protective shield of some sort.

Daryl was a man that was made of solid muscle. She should know, she'd spent enough hours with her body pressed against his back. But he wasn't a threatening man. He didn't seem prone to random acts of violence, though she had seen that he would surely react if he felt that something merited him doing so.

Many of the others, she felt, regarded Daryl as someone not quite "like them," for lack of a better explanation. She felt like he got talked down to a good deal and that people tried to oversimplify things thinking that it would somehow be beneficial to him. She wondered if his speech and, perhaps, lack of a formal education was what led them to think that Daryl might not be every bit as intelligent as anyone else in the group…Rick or Shane especially…but Carol knew that he wasn't dumb in the slightest.

Daryl Dixon was a man that was made for this world. From what she'd gathered from him in the few conversations they'd shared together, he might not have felt like he was made for the world before all this, but he was made for the world they found themselves in now.

Carol would forever appreciate that he'd tried to find Sophia with a dedication that she couldn't have imagined from anyone, certainly not from Ed. He'd been willing to put himself in danger. He'd almost died, even, and it was all for a little girl that he really owed nothing to.

But that was the kind of man that Daryl was, and Carol appreciated a man like that.

The group spoke of being a group, a family. So many of them walked around speaking as if they were something like a large bunch of Musketeers. One for all and all for one. Carol knew, though, that it wasn't the truth. They were all they had left in the world, and perhaps the only living people left, but they were far from being all for one and one for all. If she'd ever believed they had been that before, she knew it wasn't true now.

The real name of the game was one for their loved ones and their loved ones for them. Rick had Carl, and when he wanted to, he had Lori…though that was as complicated a mess as you ever wanted to see. Hershel had his daughters, and Glenn had morphed right on into becoming a Greene right before their eyes.

And then there were the leftovers. There were T-Dog, Daryl, and Carol. The three odd men out. Perhaps they were the real Musketeers. They were the only ones left without anyone looking out for them.

It was hard to believe that the others were gone, but they were. Their group had lost a lot of people, and Carol tried not to dwell on the loss since most of them made her stomach sink somewhere down around her feet and there wasn't time for that anymore.

Carol took her turn stepping into one of the bathroom stalls and stripping out of her clothes. She didn't know exactly why some of the others were making such a fit about changing. She and Daryl were the only two that were soaked to the bone. The rest of them had maybe gotten a little damp waiting for the place to be cleared out, but it certainly wasn't fatal. Even soaked as she was, Carol didn't think it was that much to complain about. She simply changed her clothes, a little thankful that the rain had washed away some of the grime that started to build up over time, and took her wet clothes out to the dining part of the truck stop to hang them out to dry.

Everyone was setting up the pallets and sleeping bags, preparing to get whatever rest they could. They'd have to eat, though, and Carol knew that they had very little food left. She could only hope that the place had something to offer in its coffers.

Carol knew her place in this group. She knew it well. She was an extra, and worse than that, a burden. Daryl and T-Dog, at least, were pretty good at protecting the group, but she couldn't say the same for herself. She wasn't anything but a used up, old housewife. She had no doubt that, truth be told, many of the group members were probably sorry to see that Daryl had saved her that night instead of Andrea. At least Andrea had something to offer them.

But Daryl hadn't saved Andrea, and Rick hadn't let Daryl go back to look for her, even though he'd tried to do so.

Daryl had saved her. She'd been sure that she was dead…and she really deserved it anyway…but he had saved her. Since then she'd silently stayed with him. She rode with him on the bike, set their pallets up near each other for when he was going to try to rest, and they even shared their blankets from time to time.

Carol didn't know what she had done that had been so wonderful as to earn her the friendship of Daryl Dixon, but she was thrilled to have it. It was nice to have somebody in this world, even if it was just a friend, and she was glad that the man who had apparently had very few friends in his life had chosen her.

He wasn't bad to look at either. She knew that a man as handsome and well-built as he was wouldn't ever look twice at a woman like her, but it didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy the view.

She knew what she looked like. Ed had taught her well. She was old beyond her years and she was ugly. She was useless before all this had happened and it had only gotten worse. She really had nothing to offer anyone and she couldn't blame the group for seeing her as a burden. So she was grateful for Daryl's inexplicable kindness, and she was grateful for any that was shown to her by the others as well.

The most she could do was try to keep busy. She tried to help with everything she could and hoped that somehow they thought she was useful enough to keep around. She stuck close to Daryl and she tried to take care of Lori.

She looked after T-Dog and tried to help heal the broken heart he seemed to suffer after the loss of Jacqui. The two had gotten very close, and though he barely talked about it, Carol wondered if he hadn't begun to fall in love with her. Regardless of if he loved her or not, though, T-Dog had at least seen Jacqui as a friend and he was without her now. Carol tried, then, to offer him whatever she could to make him feel less alone…less like the outsider that he was.

Carol had also developed a little of a bond during these months with Hershel. He was a nice old man and he seemed comfortable around Carol at least. He let her watch on when he took care of the cuts, scrapes, burns, and the like that happened from time to time and she was hoping that she could learn enough to become something of an assistant to him. That might, at least, make her useful in some way to the group, especially with Lori pregnant.

Carol wasn't sure exactly how far along Lori Grimes was in her pregnancy, but the existence of it was evident and Carol felt for the woman. She knew that for as much as her body ached with the grueling pace they set in moving from place to place, Lori must be miserable. It didn't help, Carol was sure, that Rick wasn't exactly the doting husband to Lori.

Lori had an affair with Shane, and everyone knew it. It was like the elephant in the room. They tried to pretend, for the most part, that it was some kind of big secret and that everyone believed the baby was Rick's, but Carol had her doubts, as did the others.

Lori and Shane thought they were secretive when they were together and thought it had been hush, hush, but nothing had been secret since the beginning. Everyone one of them wore their dirty laundry right there for the world to see. This life had taken away pretty much all that was left of privacy.

Carol wasn't sure if she faulted Lori or not for what she'd done. At least not in the beginning. She had thought her husband was dead…so she was a free woman, so to speak. Carol tried not to judge her on the fact that her mourning for the man that was supposed to be a beloved husband and father was very short lived. Life these days didn't offer the luxury of a long mourning for anyone. You did your mourning quickly and you finished it alone, in quick spurts, during the time permitted. It wasn't like it once had been.

So it wasn't so much the affair with Shane that Carol could fault Lori for as much as for what she had observed happening between them all afterward. There weren't clear lines drawn, and blurry lines in things like that made for messy situations. Lori had declared, and Carol had heard it more than once, that she was done with Shane once she knew that Rick was alive, but that wasn't always what it had looked like and it wasn't always what her actions and her body language had said.

Carol hadn't been the only one to notice it either. Andrea had mentioned it several times to her in random bits of ranting conversation. Andrea had, at times, been angry toward Lori for much of what happened with the group.

Daryl was angry with Lori often too, though Carol wasn't entirely sure what he was angry about. He didn't care for the woman, her words, or her actions. Carol knew that much. She left him alone with his feelings, though. They were his and he had every right to feel however he liked about anyone that they encountered.

Carol didn't have a problem with Lori, though. She got along with her and considered her just as much a friend as anyone else in the group besides Daryl. She assumed that the woman, like the rest of them, was a victim of her circumstances and now she was caught in a difficult situation. She was expecting, trying to keep up with the strenuous travel schedule they had, suffering from the malnutrition that was leaving most of them hungry at best, and her husband was "taking care of her" only in the most general sense of the term.

Carol dug through the storage area in the back of the truck stop, not failing to notice that she was alone back there. Apparently she was the only one greatly concerned with the fact that it had been at least a day since most of them had eaten. There was water back there, though, and there was canned food. It was more than enough for a meal now and something the following morning before they hit the road.

Carol grabbed up a box of the assorted canned food and carried it out front to the grill area where she could see what the place had to offer. She was pleased, upon inspection, that there was a gas stove with separate propane tanks and the thing worked. There would be a hot meal tonight, at least. That was something to be thankful for.

"T-Dog?" Carol called out, catching the man's attention.

"Need something?" He asked.

"Can you bring some of those flats of water out here? Make sure everyone gets some?" Carol asked.

He nodded his acceptance and stepped into the back, carrying her thanks with him.

Carol quickly set to work finding a pot and beginning to mix together the canned goods to form the best kind of stew that she could make out of the random food. She liked, as much as anyone who had once taking their cooking seriously, to make the food taste as good as she could, but they were always limited to what was available and these days you didn't turn down nutrition for flavor. That wasn't a luxury they could afford.

As Carol waited for the food to at least warm, she glanced around at everyone. They were obviously exhausted. There was no hiding that all of them needed some rest.

Daryl was at the door, keeping watch by a window not a few feet from it. He was almost always on guard and Carol had to remind him to eat and to rest whenever they stopped or he'd never take even a moment to himself.

She'd be sure, this night like most others, to put him a bowl of food aside before the others descended upon what there was like vultures. If she didn't, he might not eat at all besides what little bit of jerky was left in the saddle bags of the bike from one of the last places they hit that had enough food to take with them.

Rick was pacing between the back of the truck stop and the place where Daryl was keeping watch. He had taken it upon himself to be leader of this group and no one had argued with him after his violent outburst. If he wanted to call himself leader of a ragtag bunch of survivors that were simply pounding the pavement and trying to keep on living, then it really wasn't that big of a deal to Carol.

As soon as the food was warmed up, Carol scooped out a bowl for Daryl before she alerted anyone else and covered it with a rag she found, sliding it away from the pot so that no one would pay it any attention. She fixed another bowl for Lori and one for Carl, making sure to make a show of it so Rick would notice that she was at least being useful in taking care of his family, and crossed the room to deliver them.

"Food's ready," she called out while on her way to delivery.

Sometimes they all sat and waited for her to serve them, and most of the time she obliged them when she could, but she was too tired at the moment to feel like standing and handing out plates and bowls. Let them serve themselves the heated mix of vegetables and soups.

"How are you feeling?" Carol asked, handing Lori the bowl with the spoon it and passing one to Carl who thanked her quietly before beginning to eat with all the hunger she knew he had to be suffering from.

"Just fabulous," Lori said. "Thank you."

Lori took the plate and Carol knelt down on her knees by the woman for a moment, offering her a smile.

"We're going to get settled soon," Carol said. "Daryl's bound to come up on something before long that looks safe enough. You'll see."

Carol wasn't sure she believed her own words. It wasn't that they weren't looking, but it was hard to say these days what was going to be safe. They had ideas for things they might be looking for and places that it might be possible to fortify against the moving herds, but no one really knew if the places were safe or not…and even if they were they hadn't found any of the ideal locations yet.

Lori nodded a little.

"Yeah," Lori said. "It's great. I'm sure we'll find it tomorrow."

Carol understood Lori's negativity. She didn't know how long they'd been travelling, but it had been a decent stretch of time and not having found a thing yet that looked promising made the whole thing disheartening.

Carol reached out and rubbed Lori's shoulder before she got to her feet.

"Eat up," she said. "There might even be enough for seconds if you're still hungry."

Carol knew that the baby needed food and would take it from Lori if it had to, and she didn't want either of them to suffer. It wasn't the baby's fault that things surrounding its paternity hadn't exactly been wonderful and the little thing didn't deserve to suffer because of it.

When Carol had been pregnant with Sophia Ed had been an asshole about it, like he'd been about most things, and she knew too what it felt like to be hungry and expecting. You wanted nothing more than to take care of your child and to give it all that it needed, but you could only give so much if you had nothing yourself.

No one had noticed, at least, that she'd given up one or two of her own meals to have a little more to hand over to Lori. She didn't want anyone saying anything about it because she thought Daryl might say something simply out of his dislike for the woman. It didn't matter who it was, Carol wasn't going to let an expectant mother and her baby go hungry, not if she could help it. She'd done the same for Carl too.

Most people could fend for themselves, but there were some that needed your sacrifices from time to time and Carol was no stranger to sacrifice.

"Daryl," Carol asked, approaching him with a bowl and glancing out the darkened window where he kept watch, "you need to eat."

Daryl took the bowl and offered her a gruff thank you. He started eating and glanced back out at the appearance of nothing.

"Ya eat already?" He asked.

Carol shook her head.

"I'm getting something in a minute," she said.

The storm outside raged on and Carol had to admit it was one of the worst that they'd seen in a while. She hated the sound of the thunder cracking and she found it unnerving that when it hit especially hard the floor beneath them vibrated with the sound.

"It's a really bad storm," she said softly. She would never have admitted to anyone, and especially not Daryl, that she hated thunderstorms. She was grateful, though, that at least she knew she'd already put their cots down in the corner together so she wouldn't be sleeping alone.

"Yeah it is," Daryl said. "Hope it lets up or it's going to be a bitch riding in it tomorrow." He hesitated for a moment. "You could ride with T-Dog in the truck if you want. Wouldn't blame ya not wanting to get all tore up from the rain."

Carol shook her head.

"It doesn't bother me," she lied. "I'm fine on the bike."

"Suit yaself," Daryl said, taking another bite of the soup. Carol thought she saw a small smile flit across her face, but she dismissed it.

"Do you think that if it doesn't let up and we don't see a lot of activity we might stay here for a second night?" Carol asked. "Everyone's so exhausted and there's food here. The stove even works…I just think we might all need the break if we've got any time to spare."

Carol knew that if Daryl felt it was possible and he liked the idea, he'd be the one that could talk Rick into it. No one else had that power, but Rick seemed to at least respect Daryl's thoughts on travel and survival. The same couldn't be said that much about Rick's attitudes toward anyone else in the group.

Daryl bit at his cuticle a second before taking another bite of the food. He nodded a little.

"If we don't see too much we might could swing it," he said. "Wouldn't stay for longer than that, though. Could be able ta catch a couple a' squirrels or somethin' an' get us a bite a' meat ta eat."

Carol smiled. Meat was something they didn't get much since they spent so much time travelling and it would be very welcome. She knew it would be good for Lori too, but she didn't dare to point that out.

"Oh that would be wonderful," she said. "Do you think you'll talk to Rick about it?"

Daryl shrugged a little.

"Gotta see what the night holds, but I reckon I'll talk ta him in the mornin' if it looks like a good idea," Daryl said.

"Do you have watch tonight?" Carol asked.

She hoped he didn't have watch. If he did it meant he'd only sleep for a couple of hours at best. That was bad for him because he'd be even more exhausted, and that was bad for her because it mean that she'd be sleeping alone in her corner while the storm raged on outside.

"Couple a' hours," he said. "Dog's offered ta do it for a while, though, so I'ma be tryin' ta get some sleep 'fore long."

Carol nodded at him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I think I'm going to try to rest too," she said.

"Do that," Daryl said. "If'n we do hit the road tomorrow ya don't need to be dozin' off on the bike. I know ya can't help it but I don't want'cha ass fallin' off. Eatin' a shit load a' asphalt at sixty miles an hour ain't gon' be good for ya."

Carol smiled.

"I'm going to eat now," she said. "Then I'll get some sleep."

She knew that a declaration like that was about the best you got from Daryl. It meant that he cared about you. It meant that he didn't want to see you get hurt, and from Daryl that meant a lot.

Carol didn't know how she deserved to be his friend, but somehow she'd done something right, and she really did appreciate it. She passed by the pot and frowned at the fact that it had basically been all but scraped clean. She dug out what she could and started across the room, intending to eat on her pallet and lie down until she fell asleep or Daryl's watch was over, whichever came first.

"Was there any left?" Lori asked softly as Carol walked by.

Carol stopped and smiled down at the woman. She handed her the bowl.

"Just a bit," she said.

Lori shook her head.

"Is this your dinner?" She asked, taking the bowl.

"No," Carol lied. "I already ate. I was just seeing if there was extra. You go ahead."

Lori thanked her and Carol stepped past her and made her way to the pallet. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world and the cement floor was hard under her, but after the ride she was sure she could sleep eventually.

Carol lie there awake for a while, shivering a little against the clapping of the thunder outside, and finally Daryl came, lying down beside her and fumbling around to pull the blanket over him. Though they didn't touch when they slept, unless it was on accident, Carol almost felt wrapped in comfort when she could smell him so close to her and feel the warmth radiating off his body. It was nice not to be alone in this world, even if the only comfort you had was that of a dear friend.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Once again, you guys are awesome! I'm really overwhelmed by the reception for this little story! Thank you so much! I hope I don't disappoint as we go along.**

**I appreciate you all so much that I decided to ahead and leave you with the lucky number 3 for chapters and get you a little more into this fic. If you know me at all, you know we've got a long road ahead of us, but I hope it's one that you all enjoy! I'll do my best! **

**I won't be updating every day, but I'll update when I can. I have to make the rounds with my other fics as well. I don't like leaving anyone behind! **

**I hope you like the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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The storm had passed through during the night but another was right on its tail. It didn't pack the punch the first one had at all, but it was still a pretty substantial rainfall. Daryl thought it might be fine for them to stay put for one more night as Carol had suggested, and from the looks of everyone it was sorely needed.

Daryl figured that, despite the rain, he could still go hunting. The truck stop wasn't far from a wooded area and a little patience might turn up some meat for dinner. Daryl wouldn't be sorry to see something like squirrel floating around in the bean and vegetable medley they were probably getting for dinner to match the same one they'd had the night before and that morning.

He wasn't really complaining about the food, though. At least it was food and there'd been more than one night that they'd all gone to bed with nothing for their stomachs to do than chew on themselves. Enough nights like that and they'd all thing a bunch of boiled sticks was pretty damn delicious.

Daryl got his things ready to go hunting and found Carol. She was sitting in the corner on their pallet and eating what was likely her breakfast. She was always the last to eat and it was mostly because it seemed like every other fucker in the bunch had decided it was her job to serve them. Daryl understood that the woman did it gladly, but it pissed him off when someone didn't even bother to show enough decency to say thank you. Even though it might kind of look like it to an outsider, Carol wasn't their fucking made, but Daryl seemed to be the only one that remembered that half the time.

Daryl informed Carol he was going hunting and she smiled at him, nodding a little. She had a paperback book that she'd apparently dug from one of the racks stuck in the corner of the truck stop and she was lying down reading it.

"What'cha readin'?" He asked, pausing a minute.

"Just a silly book," Carol said, "but it's something to relax with."

Daryl bit at his cuticle.

"Just make sure ya doin' some a' the damn relaxin' too," he said. "We leavin' in the mornin' no matter what. Ain't givin' that herd no damn longer ta catch the fuck up with us."

Carol nodded slightly.

"I will, Daryl. Good luck on the hunt," she said.

Daryl nodded and turned to head out in the rain. He liked hunting. It was the only time he got to be away from the group and got to get out in the woods. It was how he got some peace out of this world where there was little peace to be found.

As Daryl started out the door, Rick caught up to him.

"Daryl!" Rick called.

Daryl stopped and turned toward the man, waiting to see what he wanted, though he already suspected that it was to talk more about where they were going and what they were doing.

Daryl liked Rick alright. Rick was a decent man and Daryl couldn't say that he'd directly done anything to him the whole damn time he'd known him. Rick had been handed a pretty shitty hand of cards right now, Daryl supposed. The man was trying to keep his kid safe and the kid was a slippery little motherfucker who didn't mind for shit. He was married to woman that had run around on his ass and acted like she was the damn queen of the world…often failing to notice that the world had gone to shit and thus left her queen of the garbage dump at best…and now there was another kid on the way that was probably just as likely to be his as it was Daryl's, and Daryl wouldn't have touched Lori with a rented dick.

Daryl forgave Rick many of his sins these days. Maybe before all this had happened, Daryl reasoned, Rick had the Brady Bunch life. He wasn't used to stepping in shit every which way he turned, and so far his worst problem was that he didn't know how to get it off his shoes now that it was part of his life.

"What'cha want?" Daryl asked, sliding the strap of his crossbow up.

"I thought I'd go out with you," Rick said.

Daryl chewed at his lip. He preferred to hunt alone in general. Hunting with people meant less got killed and he didn't really think of this as a social outing. He sighed, though, and nodded.

"Fine, let's go. It's piss pourin' rain out there, though," Daryl said.

Rick looked back on the group a second and Daryl figured he was thinking the same damn thing he was…it was better to be out in the piss pouring rain than trapped in a nasty ass truck stop with all the group.

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Daryl had to admit that Rick had been quiet most of the time they'd been out there. The first few minutes he'd picked up the same thread that they'd all been pulling at since they left the farm and discussed what they were looking for while they were out there hoping to find a pot of gold…but after a bit the conversation had died down and Rick had followed more or less quietly behind him.

Daryl wouldn't have called this any kind of award winning hunt at all, but he'd at least acquired a string of squirrels. It wouldn't make for a four class meal, but it was better than nothing and they could sure as shit boil them right along with the canned vegetables they were doling out. He didn't think anyone not out there hunting would turn their nose up at the find.

They'd seen fairly few Walkers too, which had been Daryl's favorite part of the whole damn thing. It seemed like the nasty assholes appeared almost constantly, every damn where they turned, but finally they were catching at least a moment's break. They'd probably killed six since they'd been out there, but a half dozen was better than a herd any day.

Daryl wasn't looking forward to heading back to the truck stop either. He'd have rather stayed out there all day, his skin chaffed by his drenched clothes, than go back and sit with the negative ass nancies that he was with.

It wasn't that everyone in the group was terrible. They really weren't all that bad, not on their own. The problem was that they were tired, hungry, sore, and everything else that came with road weariness, and that didn't make them good bedfellows.

It also seemed that everyone fed off of everyone else's sour attitude. If someone was in a good mood it got drug down quickly by someone else's bitching and moaning. That was really the problem. There was always someone bitching and moaning about something, and that one person was all it took to wake up the bad attitudes in everyone else.

That was really why Daryl was hoping they found somewhere to settle in. He'd be fine if they had to keep travelling. He could suck it up and deal with it if that's what this life meant. Roll with the punches, that's all they had. He figured he and Carol both could likely ride on until they fucking died of boredom or exposure without too much of a problem, but not too damn many people were built to keep putting up with it day in and day out.

At least if they found somewhere and hunkered down for a spell, everyone could rest up. They could catch up on the sleep they'd put off, stretch the muscles that needed to be stretched out, eat enough to keep their bellies from driving them to grumble…and after a while they'd probably be just as happy as clams.

A morale boost was what the fuck they needed, and Daryl thought it would only come in the promise of a break from wearing their asses out riding down the Georgia roads. And if Daryl had any fucking clue where they might find that place he'd get there tomorrow, come hell or high water, but he didn't have a clue where they were headed. They were essentially running around blind and hoping to hell they fell over something that might save them.

Daryl heard a rustling in the leaves not far from them and raised his crossbow. If today was their lucky day it would be a deer. If they had any luck at all it would be another squirrel. If their luck was just as shitty as he thought it was, though, it would be a fucking Walker. No matter which was the prize behind the curtain, though, Daryl was ready for it.

He held his hand up to Rick to still him. If it was a Walker it wouldn't matter any damn way, but if it was something they could eat Daryl didn't want the man's steps to send it scurrying off.

Daryl eased across the ground as delicately as possible and stepped around some bushes and undergrowth in the direction of the sound. Just as he swung toward it, he heard a cry that wasn't any kind of game he'd hunted before, and it wasn't a Walker.

Daryl focused in on the woman just as she was trying her best to scramble up into a nearby tree. He hadn't gotten a good look at her and now he only had a great view of her ass as she hung awkwardly, not quite able to pull herself up the branch as effectively as she must have thought she'd be able to.

Daryl wasn't sure what to do at first, but it wasn't like the woman was going anywhere. She couldn't even get her ass up the tree. He stepped back a second and caught Rick's attention, waving him on slowly as the woman continued to struggle.

"Come outta the fuckin' tree," Daryl said finally. "Ya ain't gettin' no damn where no way."

The woman stopped struggling and hung there a second. Rick walked up beside Daryl then and Daryl didn't know what the scene probably looked like to him. The woman dropped, somewhat defeated, out of the tree and landed pretty much flat on her ass in the soaked leaves below.

"Who is this?" Rick asked, looking confused.

Daryl swiped at the water puddling on his face and shrugged.

"Who the hell are ya?" He asked the woman sitting on her ass a few feet in front of him.

The woman was probably all of thirty something and brunette. She was as soaked as Daryl and Rick were and looked like she probably hadn't bathed recently. A quick glance at her showed she wasn't carrying anything and other than the hunting knife hung at her belt she didn't look to be armed. Daryl would have expected to find the likes of her out here in the woods, not alone, and certainly not trying to scramble up in a tree with all the grace of a five year old.

"Who the hell are you?" The woman responded.

Daryl almost chuckled. He hadn't lowered his crossbow yet, but he didn't exactly have it trained on her. Still, she had to have some brass balls to talk to two men she didn't know that way when it looked like all she had to defend herself was a hunting knife that was still in its holster.

"Reckon I asked ya first," Daryl said.

"I'm Dr. Alice Walker," the woman responded. "Now are you going to shoot me with that thing or were you going to let me go?"

Daryl shouldered his crossbow. The woman had very likely been what had rustled in the leaves and no Walkers seemed to be lurking in their nearby vicinity. At any rate, her squeal at having come face to face with his arrow had scared off anything that was around them and consequently called any Walker nearby to come and have a treat.

"Fuckin' Walker?" Daryl asked. He snickered. "Ya fuckin' name is Walker?"

The woman crinkled her brow at him and scrambled to her feet, her hand hovering now over her knife.

"What's it to you, asshole?" She asked.

Daryl shot a look at Rick. Rick looked like he was tired…that was all Daryl was getting from his face at the moment, and that wasn't telling him very much.

"What do we do with her?" Daryl asked, finally.

"Excuse me?" Alice asked. "What do you do with me? Leave me alone, how about that one?"

"You heard her," Rick said with a shrug. "Leave her alone. Let's head back. We've got enough for stew."

Daryl paused a moment. He wasn't all about taking new people into the group. The last damn person they'd encountered had ended up causing a world of shit on the farm and he wasn't looking to repeat that, but this woman was different than the boy they'd trudged up.

She was a woman. She looked to be alone in the woods. Daryl wasn't sure he'd feel right just tipping his head at her and walking away.

"Where's ya people?" Daryl asked, turning his attention to the woman again for a minute.

"My people?" The woman asked. She knit her eyebrows together. "As in my tribe or what?"

"Ya out here by yaself?" Daryl asked. He didn't have a single clue how this woman was out here by herself, essentially unarmed and empty handed.

The woman chuckled a little.

"I guess you could say that…" she said. "Seriously, are you going to kill me or what, because I'm getting some Deliverance vibes right now and if that's how you think this shit is going down then let me know, because honestly I'm not too damn fond of my life right now to be willing to part with it."

"Hold ya damn horses," Daryl said. "Ain't nobody killin' no damn body 'less ya go actin' like some kind a crazy asshole."

Daryl grabbed Rick by the shoulder and led him over to the side to talk to him.

"Oh, OK! That's fine…Just talk among yourselves. I'll just be standing over here, minding my own fucking business," Alice called out.

Daryl ignored her.

Rick was looking at him, concern on his face, as soon as they had stepped off together.

"What we gon' do with her?" Daryl repeated his inquiry from earlier.

Rick shook his head.

"What do you want to do with her, Daryl?" Rick asked. He shrugged a little. "Just leave her. She'll go off on her own. She's not our problem."

Daryl glanced over at the woman who was standing with her arms crossed and looking a little annoyed.

"She's a woman, Rick, an' she's alone in the fuckin' woods. Ya really wanna just leave her ass out here? She ain't never gonna outrun them herds that's comin' this way," Daryl said.

"So what do you want to do? Take her with us?" Rick asked.

Daryl glanced back over at her. He had no idea what this woman's story was or how she landed right the hell where she was, but she didn't look like a big threat to anyone really. He didn't so much _want_ to take her as he felt like he couldn't very well just leave her there, knowing damn good and well she wasn't going to survive if they did. She might not know about the Walkers that were coming, and even if she did she couldn't outrun them and one woman with one knife couldn't take them on unless she had some magical powers that he didn't know about.

Daryl just nodded slightly at Rick and watched as Rick made a face.

"We don't know this woman," Rick said. "We've hardly got the supplies to keep the people we've got going…"

Daryl curled his lip a little.

"Ain't many of us knowed each other 'fore we started this," Daryl said. "I reckon Andrea's dead now…sos a buncha others. She can have their share of the nothin' that we got. Said she was a fuckin' doctor…might be able to help Hershel."

Rick's eyebrow raised a little and Daryl realized the man hadn't thought of that before. If he thought she could be useful he'd likely drag her along.

Rick sighed.

"Fine," he said. "If she wants to come…but if she causes any trouble then she's out."

Daryl nodded.

"If she fucks up I'll put an arrow in her myself," Daryl said. He glanced back at the woman who was now walking small circles around the area she was waiting in. She didn't look the least bit concerned about them and Daryl wondered if she really was at the point where she wouldn't have minded parting company with her life.

They walked back toward her and she took a stance in front of them, her hand hovering over knife again.

"Take it easy, Davy Crockett," Daryl said. "We ain't gonna fuckin' hurt'cha."

The woman looked at him like she didn't entirely believe him or trust him and he realized she had no reason to trust him at all.

"We got us a group," Daryl said. "We on the move an' we ain't got a lot ta offer, but if ya wanta come with us ya can. If ya don't then ya oughta know there's a pretty huge ass herd a' Walkers headin' ya way so ya best start runnin' if ya got any desire ta live."

"Walkers?" The woman asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Walkers," Daryl repeated. "Fuckin' dead people walkin' 'round tearin' people up."

"The zombies?" The woman asked.

"Call 'em what the fuck makes ya happy, but there's an assload of 'em headed this way," Daryl said. "So ya comin' or not?"

The woman looked between Daryl and Rick and shifted her feet a little.

"Well since you make such an appealing offer, I don't suppose I can turn that shit down," Alice replied.

"Ya got anything with ya?" Daryl asked, looking around. "Supplies and shit?"

Alice shook her head.

"I use it as I come to it," she said. "Pretty fucking hard to carry shit and run."

Daryl nodded a little. It looked like they had themselves one serious ass scavenger if she wasn't carrying a single damn thing with her except the clothes on her back. He shrugged a little.

"Best keep up, ain't waitin' on ya ass," he said.

He turned and started walking back toward the truck stop with Rick on his heels and the woman trotting just behind.

"I hate to be the rude one here," Alice said, "but do I get to know your names or what?"

"I'm Daryl an' this here's Rick," Daryl said. He heard Rick offer some word in greeting. He hadn't really meant not to introduce himself, it had just sort of happened that way. "Reckon you'll meet everybody else when we get the fuck where we goin'," Daryl finished.

"Oh goody," Alice said, a little sarcasm dripping from her words. "This already sounds like it's going to be awesome."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So this chapter is a little long for me, but there were a lot of things that I wanted to cover so I hope you'll forgive me for that! **

**You're all awesome, and I mean that. Your comments make my day! I'm glad to see that so many of you are excited to see Alice back as well. **

**So here's another chapter for you. I hope you enjoy and please don't forget to let me know what you think! **

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Carol didn't know what to think when Rick returned from the hunt, soaking wet and more than a little muddy, leading a woman that was equally soggy, significantly more filthy, and completely unknown to Carol.

"Who is that?" Carol asked quietly as Rick walked past her, leaving the woman standing awkwardly at the door and looking around at everyone.

Rick cleared his throat and glanced back over toward the woman.

"Uh…that's Alice," he said. "Daryl invited her to join us."

Carol could tell that Rick wasn't sure about having the woman there, and frankly neither was she. The group was strained enough at times without adding new people to it, but if the woman was on her own then Carol couldn't very well see turning her out.

Carol smiled at Rick.

"There's some kind of industrial sink in the back of the storage room back there. It has running water. It's a little cloudy, so I wouldn't drink it, but you can wash up some if you want," Carol said.

Rick nodded at her and started through the back doors toward the storage room of the truck stop. Carol had discovered the sink on accident and had been surprised that it worked since it appeared to be the only running water left in the truck stop.

Carol approached the woman who was standing awkwardly and dripping on the floor.

"I'm Carol," she said.

The woman jumped a little when she spoke and Carol assumed she'd been daydreaming or something.

"Alice," she said with a smile. "You can call me Al, though. Everybody else does…or did…"

Carol thought the woman seemed a little jumpy or a little wound up for some reason, but then again she didn't know anything about where they'd found her or what her story was. Carol didn't know if she had all the reason in the world to be jumpy.

"Nice place you got here," Alice said. "Cozy…love what you've done with it."

Alice glanced around, a forced smile on her face. Most everyone in the group was either napping or reading magazines and the majority of them probably hadn't even noticed that there was a newcomer in their midst. Probably just the same as they hadn't noticed all that much that Carol had been steady trying to wash their clothes in the sink in the back and get them hung up to dry as best as they could before morning so that everyone wasn't forced to wear filthy clothes.

"Rick's in the back," Carol said, "through those double doors. There's an industrial sink back there with some running water. Come with me and I'll get you some soap. You can wash up. I've probably got something you can wear."

Carol noticed the woman wasn't carrying anything, so she just decided to assume that for whatever reason she was without any kind of supplies.

Alice nodded at her and smiled.

"Thanks," she said. "I could probably use a bath. I was starting to feel like my clothes were growing to me."

Carol smiled. She knew that feeling all too well from some of their longer stretches on the road. That's why she wasn't missing this opportunity to squeeze in as much laundry as she possibly could.

Carol led the woman over to the corner she shared with Daryl and dug through the bag, hoping that what she offered Alice to wear would suit her, at least for the night. Alice accepted the clothes and the bar of soap, holding all of it far away from her body. Carol didn't realize at first what she was doing, and apparently she'd made a face because Alice shrugged at her a little.

"Hate to get the shit dirty before I even get it on, you know?" Alice said.

Carol nodded her understanding then and offered her one of the scratchy towels that travelled with them from place to place.

"Rick should be out in a minute and then you can step in," Carol said. "Just leave your dirty clothes and I'll get them. I'm doing laundry back there anyway."

"Yeah…thanks, Carol," Alice said.

Alice looked down and quickly stepped away from Carol and Daryl's blankets, moving more into the center of the room to drip and wait in peace. Carol took one last look at the filthy woman and stepped just outside the truck stop and under the covered space in front of the door, searching for Daryl's figure.

It didn't take her much more than minute to spot him. He was standing, in the rain, not far from the place she was, cleaning what was either squirrels or rabbits, but given the distance and the angle she couldn't tell which.

"Good hunt?" She called out to him.

"Not too damn bad," Daryl said. "It'll eat I reckon."

Carol was excited about the prospect of meat in the stew tonight. It almost made it seem like the same mixture they'd eaten for the last two meals would be a gourmet meal tonight if you were lucky enough to come up with a nugget of the meat.

"Daryl, where'd you get the woman?" Carol asked.

"What?" Daryl asked. He didn't straighten up, but he did turn to look at her and rainwater rushed into his face. He swiped at it with the back of his arm.

"The woman, Alice? Where did you get her?" Carol asked.

"Out there wonderin' 'round in the damn woods by herself," Daryl said. "Says she's a doctor but I don't know a damn thing else 'bout her 'cept she's somethin' of a smart ass. Hated ta just leave her, though, with them herds right behind us."

Carol couldn't believe that she'd actually gone most of the day without thinking of the herds. He was right, though. It would almost be a certain death sentence to leave anyone in the line of the herds.

"I was just curious," Carol said.

Daryl straightened up a few minutes later and then came toward her, carrying the meat.

"Ain't no damn feast, but it's better than the jack shit we been havin'," Daryl said.

"Looks just wonderful to me," Carol said. "It'll go great with the stew."

Daryl smiled at her. He passed through the door and she followed after him, watching him head toward the kitchen area of the little place. Carol directed him where to put the rabbits and then they both stood for a moment, not sure what to do.

Carol glanced around and saw Rick was settled down in one of the booths looking at something…some kind of book.

"I suppose Alice is in the back," Carol said. "There's running water back there. You could wash up. I've been back there washing clothes all day."

Daryl grunted a little.

"Reckon I'm just as satisfied takin' me a cake a' soap an' goin' out ta wash in the rain. Just as damn clean as some water outta what's bound ta be a rusty ass pipe," Daryl said.

Carol nodded at him.

Daryl was pretty well known for keeping his distance from the group for a good bit and he was good for going off on his own to bathe. He preferred the outdoors to being cramped inside any day. Carol watched him as he went and dug through the bags, coming up with some soap.

"What about dry clothes?" Carol asked.

Daryl bit at his thumb and Carol cringed a little. It didn't matter what activity they'd been doing or how dirty his hands were, when Daryl thought his hands instinctively went into his mouth, one way or the other. Daryl shrugged.

"I can put 'em under that shed thing out there," Daryl said. "Reckon they'll stay dry enough for my purposes. Ya don't look like ya got too damn wet out there."

Carol shook her head. She had been dry standing under there, so she doubted his clothes would end up soaked through. She wondered, though, how he intended to make the swap and put on the dry clothes without passing by the window, at least, completely nude.

For a fleeting moment Carol thought that she wouldn't mind standing by the window for that show, but she felt her cheeks burn hot and put the thought out of her mind. Daryl was her friend and there was nothing beyond that. Furthermore he was a very private man and probably wouldn't appreciate the idea that she was peeping at him, in plain sight of everyone else, out of the dirty windows of the truck stop.

"I…I should go and check on Alice," Carol said. "See about the laundry too. You can bring me your dirty clothes when you're done bathing."

Daryl nodded a little.

"Ya oughta get some damn body ta help ya with the clothes," Daryl said, keeping his voice somewhat low. "Ain't'cha damn job ta wash everybody's nasty ass drawers."

Carol touched him on the arm.

"I don't mind, Daryl," she said. "Besides, it gives me something to do besides just lay around."

"That was half the damn idea behind this here extra day, weren't it?" Daryl asked.

"It's fine, Daryl," Carol said. "Go get cleaned up and bring me your clothes."

Daryl shot her a look that she couldn't fully interpret and went back toward their area for a change of clothes. As he started out the door she turned and pushed her way into the storage area, keeping her eyes turned toward the floor in case their new arrival wasn't decent yet.

"Are you decent?" Carol asked.

She didn't like for anyone in the group to see her naked and she'd done pretty well at avoiding it. Her body was pretty riddled with scars thanks to Ed's handiwork of all those years and she didn't want anyone else seeing them. She didn't have a nice body either, and having seen most of the women that they'd travelled with naked from time to time, she was self-conscious about them being able to see her. They were all much nicer built than she was and their skin didn't look as old and damaged as hers did.

As a result, she thought it was best not to sneak up on the new woman. She didn't know how she might feel about her own nudity. The other women in the group had never hid theirs, but then again they had little reason to.

"Am I dressed?" Alice called back. "Pretty much…don't think I've ever been decent."

Carol smiled and rounded the corner of some shelves, coming in sight of the sink. The woman was pulling the shirt Carol had handed her over her head with her back to her. When she turned around, Carol was finally able to take her in a bit.

She probably had no reason to hide her nudity either. Carol was a little jealous that the woman filled out her clothes whereas they hung off of Carol in places…and they certainly weren't the right places. The woman was probably in her thirties, and though she wouldn't be considered by any to be some kind of beauty queen, she was cute and certainly nothing to turn one's nose up at.

Carol felt herself become just a little jealous of the woman…the same way she felt whenever she encountered a woman that was more attractive than she was, and since that was nearly every woman she came across, the feeling was an old hat to her.

"The clothes fit you well," Carol said, offering a half smile to the woman and immediately moving to the wet sink to start filling it with water for more laundry.

Alice looked at the clothes a moment and smiled, towel drying her hair with the threadbare towel that they'd been lugging around since Atlanta.

"I was surprised they made it," Alice said. "I figured your clothes wouldn't come close to fitting…but I may have stretched the pants a little trying to get them over my ass."

Carol shrugged. It wasn't like her clothes were of any kind of great quality anyway. Whenever they came up on places where there were clothes to be salvaged she tended to let the other women pick first. Ed had always been controlling of her clothes, and it wasn't like she could wear them well anyway. As long as it hid her body it was good enough for her.

"So you were alone out there?" Carol asked. She looked at Alice and noticed the woman had some scars that looked like they were caused by scratches or cuts on her arms and she had at least a couple on her cheeks. They were fairly fresh looking, though, and were more than likely the result of adventures had since whatever this was first started.

"As of late I was," Alice said. "Didn't start out that way. I started out with about fifteen people…they were all residents at the hospital I was working at in Atlanta. We got out the city…barely…and from there," she paused. Carol could tell that somewhere behind her eyes she was remembering her own escape from Atlanta and Carol wondered if it had looked anything like theirs. "Well," Alice said after a moment, "let's just say that you can have all the damn book smarts you want, but it doesn't make you ready to fight some pissed off zombies."

"How did you make it?" Carol asked. She hated the question as soon as she'd asked it. It was as though she were suggesting that this woman had no ability to make it on her own, which she clearly did. Really that hadn't been what Carol had meant at all, but she feared now that it came across that way and Alice might be offended.

"Truth?" Alice asked, raising her eyebrows at Carol.

Carol smiled and nodded.

"Ran like hell and all I can figure is God must have thought he owed me something," Alice said. "Every damn day I've made it has been one hell of a surprise to me."

Alice smiled and Carol couldn't help but mirror her smile. She knew that feeling. There were plenty of times when she wondered how she was still alive, especially when she considered all the people that they'd lost. She had Daryl to thank for a good bit of it, so she couldn't have imagined ever making it on her own.

"What's the story around here?" Alice asked, leaning back against the wall beside the sink.

Carol shrugged.

"Not too much to tell," Carol said. "We're on the move from about three herds that are following us…we imagine they're forming into one sort of super herd. We're hitting the road again first thing in the morning, so you better get some rest after dinner and head out."

Mentioning dinner reminded Carol that she should probably see about getting it on. They could eat early tonight and give those who wanted it the opportunity to get a little extra sleep before they rolled out. Realistically she wouldn't get much more washed out before it was time to call it a night and let what clothes were clean dry.

Daryl interrupted the conversation by coming through the door to the storage area wearing his clean clothes, his somewhat shaggy hair dripping water down the front of his shirt.

"Just toss them in here," Carol said, gesturing toward the sink. She stepped out of the way and Daryl tossed his clothes in as though he were playing basketball.

Carol noticed him cast a glance at Alice, but he didn't say anything to her. He nodded at Carol and turned around, leaving the storage area again.

Carol wondered if Daryl was attracted to the woman. She couldn't really blame him if he was. The woman might not be some storybook beauty, but she was cute enough to catch his attention. She had a nice body and the clothes she was wearing hugged it in all the right places.

Carol knew she had no claim to Daryl at all. He was a friend of hers and nothing more. He didn't look at her even as a woman, really. She suspected he looked at her more as a buddy or a pal. One of the guys. Still, she hated to think that some woman had come strolling up, lost in the woods, and had probably caught Daryl's attention. Carol didn't know if he'd ever been in a relationship before or not, but she could imagine that if he got into one it would mean a lot to him. He'd be the kind of man to throw himself into it probably…and when there was a woman in his life, there wouldn't be nearly the same amount of room for a buddy as there once had been.

"So how'd you guys all end up together?" Alice asked.

Carol shrugged.

"It's a long story," she said. "I've got to go and start dinner…I'm sure you're bound to hear everyone's stories as we go along."

Carol left the laundry soaking and went out front, not ignoring the fact that Alice followed her.

"You need some help or do we take turns or what?" Alice asked, looking around. "I suck at cooking, but I make a mean bowl of Ramen and I can open cans like a fucking pro."

Carol pushed a few of the cans in Alice's direction and started browning the squirrels in the pot while Alice cranked away at the top of the cans with the can opener that they carried with them everywhere. She'd looked around here, but it looked as though someone had already passed through here and taken most of the utensils.

"I usually do the cooking," Carol said. "Beth helps sometimes."

"For all these people?" Alice asked. "How'd you get so damn lucky?"

Carol snickered and accepted the cans that Alice was opening to dump into the pot.

"We all do what we can," Carol said. "Some people have more to offer than others. I can cook and do laundry."

Alice paused in turning the hand cranked opener for a moment.

"I'm sure you've got a lot more to offer than just your impressive ability to raise a truck stop full of overgrown children," Alice said. "But…I guess the group dynamic is what it is, huh?"

Carol nodded.

She thought, for just a moment, that she might like this woman. She seemed at least decently friendly and she was on her own. At least if Daryl was going to fall for someone, Carol might have a chance of somehow blending in as a friend of them both. Maybe they wouldn't be as apt to just forget about her as the situation would be if Daryl took an interest in someone less warming to other women.

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After everyone had eaten, Carol decided she wasn't bothering with dishes of any kind. She could leave that for the rats and whatever passerbys happened to run up on the place when they were gone and the herd had plowed through the area. She wasn't doing any extra cleaning that she didn't have to do.

Carol walked around, finding Daryl looking out one of the windows.

"Anything?" She asked.

Daryl jumped a little.

"Sorry," Carol said softly.

"S'alright," Daryl responded. "Can't see a damn thing but my own face if ya wanna know the truth of it."

Carol chuckled.

"Then why are you keeping watch?"

Daryl shrugged.

"Feel like I oughta keep an eye out…feels better ta be doin' somethin'," he said.

Carol nodded.

"You're going to get some sleep tonight, though, right?" Carol asked.

Daryl nodded a little.

"Yeah, in a bit," Daryl said.

Carol sighed.

"I'm going to finish the clothes that are soaking," she said. "Then I'm down for the night."

Daryl bit at his lip a little and nodded his head slightly, turning back to gaze out the window that offered him nothing more than his own refection coming back.

Carol eased through the storage area, one of the candles they'd found in her hand, and put it down on the shelf near the sink. She started scrubbing the clothes.

"Do you ever stop?" Alice asked, coming up behind her. Carol jumped a little at the unexpected sound.

"Not too often," she responded.

"Need help?" Alice asked.

Carol shook her head.

"You can keep me company if you don't want to sleep, though," Carol said.

Alice nodded a little and settled back into the space she'd occupied earlier.

"So I got that the brunette girl and the Asian guy are together," Alice said.

"Maggie and Glenn," Carol offered.

"Who's the pregnant chick with? Or did she pick that up along the road somewhere?" Alice asked.

Carol chuckled.

"She's Rick's wife…but things," Carol paused. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to share with the newcomer all at once. "Things are complicated sometimes."

"Haven't they always been?" Alice asked.

Carol nodded a little and started ringing out one of the garments from the sink to lay out to dry over the string she'd found and hung up to serve as clothesline for the night. She noticed that Alice fell in behind her, ringing something else out.

"You don't have to do that," Carol said. "Really, it's fine."

"Might be," Alice said, "but I'm not doing anything else so I figured it wasn't hurting anything if I helped. What's your story? You with anyone?"

Carol stopped a moment and then resumed her activity, tossing another dripping article over a piece of loosely hanging string.

"No," she said. "I'm single."

Alice nodded.

"Did you have somebody before this?" Alice asked, softer than before.

Carol nodded. She cleared her throat a little. She didn't like to remember Ed any more than her brain forced her too, but she knew that the new woman would have no way to know about the hell she'd lived day in and day out.

"I had a husband," Carol said. "He died after this whole thing happened."

"I'm sorry," Alice said.

"Don't be," Carol responded. She smiled at the woman. "Sometimes things like that are blessings."

Alice sucked her teeth and made a snapping motion.

"I got a little excited for a minute there," Alice said. "I thought you might be with the hillbilly guy…what's his name? The one who almost shot my ass with a crossbow?"

"Are you talking about Daryl?" Carol asked.

"That's it!" Alice said. "I saw you talking to him…thought you were with him…so when you said just now you were single I thought maybe you were…well…maybe you played for my team."

It took a second for it all to sink into Carol.

"You're gay?" Carol asked.

Alice raised her eyebrows.

"Is that a problem?" Alice asked.

Carol shook her head. She didn't care if the woman was a lesbian or not…at least not really…though it did change the way she thought a little bit about Daryl's potential interest in her.

"No, it's not a big deal," Carol said. "But no, I'm not a lesbian…just single."

"It's a shame," Alice said. "You're a beautiful woman. I'd have gone for it. But…you win some and you lose some, right?"

Carol was struck at the moment. Even though she had no interest in women whatsoever, it was funny to hear someone refer to her as beautiful. She couldn't remember the last time that anyone had said that, and whether or not Alice had only said it to be nice, Carol would be lying if she said it wasn't flattering.

"Hey…it's OK," Alice said. "Don't worry…you're not, you're not…I'm not some kind of predator. No need to lose your shit or anything."

Carol realized she'd been quiet too long and the woman had misinterpreted her silence. She shook her head quickly.

"No! It's not that. It's just…" Carol paused. She didn't want to tell the woman that her compliment had caught her off guard. That would sound too much like she was searching for some kind of sympathy, and that wasn't the case. "Never mind. It doesn't have anything to do with you," Carol finished.

Alice nodded a little.

"It's cool," she said. "I guess I'm going to turn in…there's a sweet ass corner booth out there that's got my name on it if no one's ass is parked there."

Carol watched as the woman left the storage area. She hung up the last of the clothes to dry and then decided to call it a night herself. She figured she'd take the woman one of their extra blankets, since she didn't have anything else, really…and it might smooth over any hurt if she'd caused offense. She'd try to get Daryl to come to sleep too. There was no telling where they'd be camping the next night and it might not be as cozy as the floor of a dirty truck stop on a back Georgia road.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: You guys really amaze me and flatter me. I'm so happy that everyone seems to be enjoying this story! I thank you all for your comments and reviews. **

**I decided to get you out another little chapter in our story as we settle into it more. I'm glad, also, to see that you're happy to have Alice back. As promised, she's a "supporting character" both literally and figuratively. She has to get there, character development and all that good stuff, but you know that she's a pretty dedicated cheerleader for Caryl when the time is right.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think! **

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They were a lot later than Daryl hoped they would be and he was growing frustrated and antsy all the same time. They'd taken two days on the stop and they weren't making great time today. The only good thing that could be said was that they'd all eaten so there wouldn't be bitching about food, and they'd gotten a good deal of supplies and a little fuel to load down with at the truck stop.

That didn't mean the time thing wasn't pissing him off, though. They were trying to keep ahead of these herds and the Walkers weren't like them. Walkers didn't get road tired like they got. They only ate when they came across some unfortunate asshole or animal that wasn't able to get away, and they didn't sleep. They kept moving whenever the group came to a halt. They could catch up to them, and they would if given the chance.

Daryl wasn't sure the herds were still following them, at least not entirely. They'd tried to be as quiet as they could and only used handheld weapons. Their only real sound came from the engines as they continued on the roads they chose, but Daryl also wasn't an expert in what the hell got the fuckers to turn and he didn't want to hang out waiting to see if anything else had turned that many heads or not.

"We gotta get a fuckin' move on!" He growled at the group. Some damn days it seemed like every last one of them had rocks in their feet or something. He understood packing up what they could take, but he thought some of the people could be a little more efficient in how quickly they got shit done. They didn't need to waste half a damn day doing what they could have done in two hours tops if everyone had their shit together.

"I think we're almost ready," Rick said. "T-Dog's loading the last of the fuel cans and I sent the women already to do their business."

"We can't keep draggin' our asses like this, Rick," Daryl said, trying to hold back his annoyance. "We don't stand a fuckin' chance if those herds catch up ta us, an' ya know that shit good as anyone."

Rick nodded a little.

"We won't be staying two nights anywhere again for a while," Rick said. He glanced around at the bodies that were moving around and getting ready for the road.

"Where the fuck ya wanna stop tonight?" Daryl asked.

Rick shrugged.

"Your call, as always," Rick said. "I hate to wait until it gets dark, though…you know they get crazier then and it's harder to clear out wherever we're going to be sleeping."

This was the rinse, lather, repeat of their whole damn life now. Hit the road in the morning, or in this case far damn later than they should have hit the road, stop a couple of times when somebody just couldn't hold it any longer, and try to find a place by the time dark settled in to hold up for the night.

Travelling at night was dangerous. It was harder to see the Walkers, but since they apparently didn't go so much on sight as some kind of culmination of whatever the fuck senses they had left, the Walkers never seemed to suffer in their ability to see you. They got stirred up at night too, and no one understood it. Dark and rain both seemed to stir the fuckers up and breathe a certain life into them. Neither were great times to get caught standing still.

Daryl bit at his thumb and watched as Carol emerged from the wooded are with the brunette they'd plucked out the woods the day before. Alice got in the truck that T-Dog was driving and Daryl watched as Carol made her way toward him and toward the bike, smiling like she did most of the time, as though they weren't running for their fucking lives from flesh hungry, rotting corpses.

Daryl nodded a little at Rick.

"I'll find somethin'," he said. "I'd like ta keep goin' as much as we can, though. Put more road between us an' them."

Rick nodded in response to him.

"Fine, we'll go until you think it's a good place," he said.

Daryl considered the conversation done. There wasn't any reason to continue standing around swapping niceties now that it looked like people were cramming into their vehicles and getting ready to go. Daryl turned toward his bike where Carol was standing to the side and waiting.

"Everything OK?" She asked.

"Fine," Daryl said. "We gon' ride as far as we can. We done lost half this damn day an' we need ta make up for it as best we can. Ya need ta hold on…no sleepin' today."

"I'm not even tired," Carol said. "I could ride straight through if I have to."

Daryl got on the bike and waited for her to get on so that they could get adjusted. Once they were situated he felt her snuggle in behind him, her arms going around his waist, almost like a hug.

Those moments, when Carol first got on the bike, were probably the only time in Daryl's life that he could remember someone wrapping their arms around him in something that felt like a comforting hug. Carol would hold somewhat tightly to him, but never too tight.

Merle would have called him a pussy for it, but he liked the moments in the morning when they were first getting ready to ride and she hugged against him. He liked the feeling of her arms wrapped around him like that. He'd never been much of a touchy feely type of person because he'd learned a long damn time ago that he didn't like most people's hands on him at all…but there was something nice about starting off the ride like that.

As they continued on, he knew, she would relax more and her hands would drop. A good deal of the ride she didn't even keep her arms anywhere around him. Sometimes her hands fell to hang onto his hips, or other times she rested her hands on her own thighs where he'd find them if he moved a hand back to make sure she wasn't sleeping deep enough to rock right off the bike.

But when they first started every morning, it never failed. She always had her arms wrapped around him.

Daryl heard the other engines behind him roaring to life and he started the bike. He'd filled the tank and he was feeling good about covering some distance between wherever the fuck they were now and wherever the fuck they were going to end up.

He rolled forward and fed the bike speed, picking up his pace. He felt Carol's arms tighten around him momentarily as the bike started forward and then she settled into the soft hold that she would maintain until she finally started the process of fully relaxing into the long ride.

It was a nice day for the travelling, at least. It was just cool enough that no one was likely to feel like they'd roast to death, least of all the two of them on the bike, and the rain was gone but still left something hanging in the air. It was almost the dewy feeling of the mornings when he'd gone out hunting with Merle during the times that his brother hadn't been too strung out for those things. That dewy feeling, coupled with the cool, was perfect riding weather in Daryl's opinion.

As they rode, Daryl felt Carol's hands loosen and start their slow descent to his waist. From there they would disappear completely until there was some reason for her to feel the need to return them. She was settling in and so was he.

Behind him he could only assume that everything was fine. He glanced in his mirrors from time to time to make sure that everyone was behind him and that there hadn't been any unplanned stops. That was his only interaction with the group when they were moving. If he didn't glance behind him on occasion and notice that the others had stopped, there would be plenty of times when he and Carol would have just kept right on going without them.

Daryl chuckled to himself thinking about once or twice they'd missed that the group stopped for a bathroom break and even had to backtrack a bit to find them. Once they'd gone almost a half a mile before turning around and then it had been Carol who had actually gotten his attention to let him know that somehow they'd gone from leading the pack to being solo on the stretch of road.

He didn't know anything, though, about what unfolded in the vehicles behind them. He assumed that people talked and entertained each other, but for all he knew they might be fighting with each other and yelling insults all day. What happened in the vehicles stayed there as far as Daryl was concerned. His ride was quiet, other than the engines and the occasional time that Carol needed to convey something to him, like losing the rest of the group, in which case she would normally reach around and tap his chest a few times before leaning as close to his hear as she could and yelling out her message.

As they were riding along, just as Daryl was beginning to think about how long they had before he needed to start looking for a place to stay for the night, he spotted a cluster of cars just ahead in the road. The sorry assholes that had been driving the cars were probably long gone by now, but there was a chance a few of them were hanging around.

Daryl typically kept his eyes peeled for cars that looked like they were well packed. When the panic had broken out it was clear that some people had grabbed just their asses and gone while others had packed like they were going on a family vacation.

Most all of them had ended up dead or disappeared regardless, but the cars that were well stocked were nice to come up on. The group could usually scavenge a decent amount of supplies from them and they tended to have damn near everything you could imagine. Some people had been pretty damn thorough when they packed and now groups like his were reaping the benefits.

Still, they didn't stop for all the cars. They stopped when they were getting toward the lower side of fuel, water, and food, or they stopped when the cars looked too well loaded to pass up, but Daryl made the call most of the time himself.

This cluster of cars, however, was going to stop them regardless. There were two that needed to be shifted into neutral and pushed out the road if they were going to pass. It looked, in a turn of good fortune, that since that they were going to have to stop anyway they might get some shit out of these cars too. These fuckers looked like they were going camping, which means they probably had a lot of useless shit, but they might have something decent.

And Daryl had to piss anyway…so he knew by now Lori was probably driving Rick's ass crazy since they hadn't made a bathroom stop in a while. She had to go to the bathroom a lot and didn't seem to take kindly to Daryl's suggestion that she come up with something to put in the damn car with her.

He knew he was an asshole…and he knew if it was somebody besides Lori he wouldn't have minded the stops so much…but he couldn't much help the way he was wired and the woman got under his skin like a thorn.

Daryl signaled and brought the bike to a stop just off the road. Carol had wrapped her arms around him in expectation of the slight drop off the shoulder, and as he stood up she unwrapped herself and got off the bike, readjusting her clothes.

"Pit stop?" She asked.

Daryl nodded in the direction of the cars.

"Gotta move that shit if anyone but us is gettin' through an' I gotta piss so I figured I weren't the only one," Daryl said, stretching. The others were starting to come to a stop and he could hear the sounds of doors closing and voices.

"I've got to go too," Carol said, starting toward the woods that lined the road.

"Hey!" Daryl called, getting her attention. "Don't'cha fuckin' go off alone!"

Sometimes Carol had a way of trotting off that seemed to Daryl like she thought nothing was going to touch her. He tried to make sure she waited for the rest of the women most of the time, but sometimes they didn't bother to venture down to his end of the caravan. He'd walked her out into the woods himself a few times, always keeping a few bushes away so as to not embarrass her and keeping an ear out for the Walkers.

As they were standing there, though, he saw the brunette drop out of the side of T-Dog's truck and streak into the woods without a damn care in the word. Carol smiled at him and pointed.

"There goes Alice," she said. "We'll be fine."

Before Daryl could say anything, Carol trotted off to join Alice.

Daryl turned and greeted T-Dog as he walked up.

"Goin' nuts yet?" Daryl asked.

"What?" T-Dog asked.

"Your new little riding partner," Daryl said. "Drivin' ya ass nuts?"

T-Dog chuckled and shook his head.

"No, actually makes the ride a little shorter than it really is," he said. "I don't mind her. She talks a lot, but she's fun to listen to. Beats a radio that doesn't work."

Daryl nodded at him.

"I gotta piss, but I figure we can move them two cars outta the way in a minute an' the women can search the cars," Daryl said. "How we doin' on fuel?"

Rick walked up, then, to join them and stood with his hands on his hips. His cop stance, that's what the hell it was. Daryl always felt like he was about to be asked some questions about his whereabouts whenever Rick took that stance.

"I'd say while we're stopped we should fill everything up as much as we can and see if we can't siphon off some more," T-Dog said. "If we ain't out now, you can bet we will be soon enough. Gas ain't gonna last forever."

Daryl nodded.

"Fine…then let everyone know what the hell is goin' on. I'm 'bout ta go shake hands right down there an' then I'll help ya get them cars off the road," Daryl said. He nodded at Rick before heading toward the woods to do his business.

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Carol caught up with Alice quickly and very nearly scared the socks off of her. Alice jumped and yelped as Carol approached and Carol apologized quickly.

"Don't do that shit! I've about got piss running down my leg as it is!" Alice said.

She rushed ahead a little, wrestling the pants she was wearing down as she went and dropped behind a bush, barely covered.

"You're not very modest, are you?" Carol asked, finding her own location close by that offered a little more protection from any on looking eyes than the scrub that Alice had chosen.

"Who the fuck has time for modesty?" Alice asked. "Besides, I'm a doctor and I can tell you that I've seen a few things that might have surprised me a little in my life, but once you get down to it, a body is just a body. It's just that some damn where we got to thinking that it's some super big deal to see skin. Anyone out here that wants to see my white ass is more than welcome to it."

Carol chuckled and readjusted her clothes as Alice was hopping around fastening her pants. For a moment they stood there, looking around at the woods. There weren't any Walkers nearby, obviously, and the only sounds to be heard were the voices and rustling in the woods around them caused by everyone else scurrying back and forth on bathroom breaks.

"Let's head back to the road," Carol said. "See what we can find while we're stopped."

"Good damn idea, sexy," Alice said. "Maybe I'll find me a bed of some damn type now that I've got a way to carry that shit."

Carol chuckled. She matched her pace with Alice and walked beside her all the way back to the road. Everyone was already beginning to look through the vehicles and Daryl and T-Dog were pushing one of the cars out of the road.

Alice went straight to the back of a station wagon and opened the back of it, starting to rummage through. Carol looked around and quickly found Lori going through another car with Carl nearby and spotted Maggie and Beth filling a box with what was apparently food. Carol walked over to Lori.

"No Walkers?" She asked, coming up.

Lori shook her head.

"They must have moved on from here," Lori said. "There was a case of Gatorade in the car they just moved and we're finding a lot of snack food. We can divide some of it up for the road."

Carol nodded a little. They usually divided the snack food up to serve as lunch on the road and really any meal when it didn't seem safe to cook at wherever they'd landed for the night. Usually she and Daryl didn't eat much on the road. They'd swallow down a granola bar or something like that at a pit stop like this one and then they'd call it a day. Some of the others went through a good deal more than that, but they didn't keep inventory often on what they found except when it was getting too low.

Carol dove into one of the cars and started putting some clothes she found in a suitcase to the side. She glanced over where Alice was and saw her heading toward T-Dog's truck, carrying a sleeping bag, with a look of victory on her face. Carol couldn't help but smile. At least wherever they ended up the woman wouldn't be just sleeping on the floor. They didn't carry a lot of extra with them, so they weren't really prepared to take in anyone that came entirely without supplies. Carol figured the clothes she was piling to the side might be welcomed by Alice as well.

"What about the new woman?" Lori asked, moving closer to Carol.

"Alice?" Carol asked. "What about her?"

"Rick said she was just on her own," Lori said. "Do you trust her?"

Carol nodded.

"Seems harmless enough," Carol said. "I don't have any reason not to trust her. Why? Don't you?"

Lori shrugged.

"I don't know, but it does seem kind of odd that she's just out roaming around alone. No group…no husband…absolutely nothing?" Lori asked.

Carol made a face. For a moment she fought back the irritation that she felt when Lori made comments like that. If she'd been Daryl, or even if someone like Andrea had overheard that, Lori might have gotten her feelings hurt and given her something to focus on during the rest of the day's ride, but Carol could usually push the irritation out and control her temper. She tried to forgive Lori…she reasoned that the woman didn't have the same kind of life that she'd had, and she'd probably lead a very different life than many of the people that they'd known since this whole thing started. That, coupled with hormones clouding her mind a bit, might be responsible for her making comments that didn't always come across as having the most thought possible behind them.

"She lost her group," Carol said. "They died out and she kept going…it could happen to any of us. I don't think it's a reason to start planning on drumming her out of town."

Lori looked struck and looked away for a moment, assuming the misunderstood look that she got anytime anyone snapped at her. Carol felt sorry for it for a moment, but then decided that she really wasn't sorry.

Lori had people looking out for her all the time. She'd come into this thing with Shane willing to risk his neck for her and then Rick had come back willing to die for her as well. She'd kept both of them on leashes since the beginning. Even though she and Rick weren't getting along…whether it was because Rick admitted to killing Shane…or because of the baby…or whatever it was…Rick was still looking out for her every step of the way.

Now that she was pregnant, she had Hershel worried about her twenty four hours a day, and Maggie and Beth both doted on her because of the possibility of the baby. Even Glenn kept a watchful eye out for Lori. It might be impossible for Lori to figure out how someone could end up on their own out here, trying to get by themselves because there was no one in their corner, but Carol could easily understand how it could happen. She wasn't going to judge someone else just because they were the last man standing from their group.

"I wasn't suggesting drumming her out of town," Lori said softly. "I was just suggesting that we might want to be careful with her. I saw you go down to the woods alone with her…"

"And you saw me come right back out," Carol said.

She shook her head. When Daryl told her to be careful or to watch out or whatever it was that he told her to do at the moment, she didn't mind it. That was Daryl's way and he meant nothing by it other than the fact that he considered her a friend and he wanted to look out for her. She didn't feel, right this moment, like Lori's concern was exactly the same quality.

Carol took up the clothes she'd put to the side and walked off without finishing anymore of the conversation with Lori. She looked over her shoulder to try and gauge how close they were to leaving and found Alice burrowing in the back of another one of the cars.

"Found some clothes," Carol said. "They should fit you so you can at least change every now and again when we can't do laundry."

"Hey, thanks!" Alice said, smiling at her.

"Did you find anything?" Carol asked.

"Eh…odds and ends stuff…I put some crackers and shit in the truck. I may have hit a drug score, though," she said, crawling backwards out of the car with a large Ziploc bag in her hand filled with pill bottles.

"What is it?" Carol asked.

Alice shrugged.

"I'll have to look at it more carefully when we're on the road. Car obviously belonged to either pharm drug dealers, some people with a lot of issues, or some really old people. Could be anything and might be nothing. Worth having a good damn look at, though," Alice said.

"Carol!" Daryl called.

Carol turned and saw Daryl waving at her. Maggie and Beth scurried past carrying a box, so Carol assumed they were about to be leaving.

"Looks like it's time to go," she said to Alice. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Hate when you leave, but I love to watch you go," Alice said.

Carol blushed at her and made a face. Alice cackled and took the things she'd piled up off the back of the station wagon. Carol watched her start toward the truck before she began crossing the distance between the car and where Daryl's bike waited on them.

Carol blushed again when she heard a whistle and knew it was Alice. She chuckled to herself and closed the gap, coming up next to Daryl who was gnawing at his cuticle.

"Time to head out?" Carol asked.

"Yeah," Daryl said. "Ya find anything decent?"

Carol shrugged.

"A little something here, a little something there," she said. "Nothing super exciting."

"Got a lotta gas," Daryl said.

Carol smiled.

"That's a good thing," she said. She looked around toward the group. Most were in the cars already but it was apparent they were waiting for Rick who hadn't taken care of his business yet.

"Gas is always a good damn thing," Daryl said. He reached in his saddle bag and produced a granola bar which he opened quickly. He passed one to her. "Best swallow this shit down," he said "We gon' ride a couple more hours an' we don't know what we gon' find."

Carol took the granola bar and quickly finished it in two bites. She freed one of the bottles of water out of the saddle bag and sucked half of it down before holding it out to Daryl to take when he'd finished his own food. He accepted it and drained it quickly.

Carol was looking at Daryl, but she heard the car door shut behind her signaling that Rick was back and she saw the look cross Daryl's face. The engines behind them started to roar to life and Daryl got on the bike.

"Let's go," he said. "Time to beat the sun."

Carol got on behind him and snuggled against his back, wrapping her arms around him. She didn't care how long they rode, not really. She liked the feel of being pressed against his back as they rode along.

As they rode, the sun began to slowly sink down. Carol didn't normally like being out in the dark…not with the Walkers about…but she felt safe on the bike with Daryl, whether it was really safe or not. She looked around them, taking in the countryside, and realized that it would be a bit still before they stopped somewhere and the best they were likely to do out here was a barn or an abandoned farmhouse. Dinner would be granola or something out of a can, but there wouldn't be any cooking taking place, not tonight. Still, she didn't really car.

She raised her arms up from where they were, her hands resting on her legs, and wrapped them around Daryl again, hanging onto him. She watched the road ahead of them and every now and again she closed her eyes, simply enjoying the feeling of the wind on her face and his warm body in front of hers.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Just a little something more to advance our story on what's taking place on the road between the farm and where we'll eventually end up. More to come before too long! **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think! **

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Once they'd cleared the house and brought their things in to stay for the night, everyone was ready to eat and relax, hopefully getting enough sleep to keep going strong the next day.

The pantry of the old farmhouse offered up a few cans of assorted food that Carol and Beth passed around. There wasn't going to be any cooking the food tonight so it was simply take a can, take the can opener, and pass the opener down when you were done. Bon appetit.

When the group landed at houses like this, the process was always the same. First sleeping arrangements were decided upon and then everyone gathered together to eat until everyone decided to make their way to their chosen spot.

Anytime a bed was available it went to Lori and Carl without question. If a second bed was available, as in the case of the crowded farmhouse, Hershel would take it and Beth would join him if there was room. The rest of the spaces were more or less divided on a first come, first serve basis.

Carol never minded the distribution of sleeping arrangements. She didn't need to sleep in a bed or on a couch. She was just as comfortable on the floor as long as Daryl was nearby, and Daryl always liked his spot to be just a little removed from everyone else's and somewhat close to the door, presumably for an easy escape if a night were to go bad, and sometimes they did.

Maggie and Alice had made quick work covering the windows while Carol and Beth had gotten food to pass out and supplemented it with supplies from the cars. Carl had gone about the house collecting any candles and such they could use to dimly light their space, and Rick and Daryl peeked out the windows to make sure that nothing in the house was drawing too much attention from any passing Walkers.

The best of the cans of food, like soups, were passed out to people who needed it most like Lori, Hershel, Carl, Beth…those that were deemed as needing better nutrition than the others in these situations where something well balanced wasn't likely to cross their spoons. The rest settled for a can of whatever vegetable or bean they happened upon. It was a meal that the Queen of England might have turned her nose up at, but it was better than going hungry.

When everyone was settled in with something to eat, they all sat in an awkward circle in what had been a dining room of sorts in the house. It was the largest room and therefore the best common room for them to share until they went to bed. It also offered a good view of the front of the house for Daryl to look through windows. Rick walked, eating out of his can, around the house and gazed out the windows all around. It was nothing unusual…part of his routine…and Carol suspected that he enjoyed having a reason not to share too much space with his wife that he didn't have to.

"So, Alice," Maggie started, "how'd this whole thing start for you?"

Alice, who was leaning against the wall eating a can of creamed corn, looked at Maggie for a minute.

"Maggie?" She asked. Maggie nodded in response.

Alice took another bite of her corn and cleared her throat once she'd swallowed.

"Well…I was working at a hospital in Atlanta when the whole thing started. We sort of ended up on lockdown, I guess you could say. We didn't know what was going on at first…but the whole good doctor never leaves their post shit…you know? We thought the shit was the flu…and then meningitis…and then maybe rabies. But people just kept fucking dying…and that wasn't so much what was fucking with us…it was more the fact that the assholes wouldn't stay dead," Alice said.

A chuckle rumbled through the group. That was the problem these days. It wasn't so much that people died, it was that they didn't stay that way. She'd hit the nail on the head.

"So anyway," Alice continued, "nobody knows what the hell to do because I mean it's sort of against our fucking oath to kill your patients…but what the hell do you do when your patient is theoretically dead and trying to kill you?"

"So what happened?" Maggie pressed.

Alice shrugged.

"I don't know how fucking long we were trapped in the hospital…trying to quarantine the fuckers and shit…thought that the scientists that get paid the big bucks to solve this shit were going to save us, but they never did. We lost connection to the world and then the military came. Everybody thought we were pretty much saved until the fuckers just busted up in there and started putting bullets in everyone, alive or dead."

"How'd you get out?" Glenn asked.

"I did what every self-respecting coward would do," Alice said with a chuckle. "I hid in a broom closet and came out probably a day…maybe even two…later. There were a handful of us still alive so we got the fuck out of there. By that time Atlanta was a fucking madhouse…and we figured the military was probably going to save the whole damn city just like they tried to save our asses, so we fell into the flow of people and ran like hell."

"And your family?" Glenn asked. "Do you know what happened to them?"

Carol glanced at him. Glenn wasn't always the smoothest person with his questioning. The boy always meant well, but if he thought it he tended to say it and it wasn't always the best thing to hear.

Alice shrugged a little.

"My parents lived in a retirement villa in Florida," Alice said. "Honestly…I don't know if I even care what happened to them and their snobby ass friends. My sister and her husband lived in Ohio…so who's to say. My girlfriend worked across town in Atlanta and by the time I got the fuck out the hospital I couldn't have made it there if I wanted to. I don't know what happened, but I like to think…just to make myself feel better…that she's out there somewhere. Found herself a nice group…hell by now maybe even found someone to make her happy…it's nice to think that she didn't end up like so many of the other people I've seen."

Everyone was quiet for a moment and full attention was turned to the feast of canned goods while everyone processed the fact that the woman in front of them, someone they hardly knew, was laying open her wounds over a can of creamed corn.

Lori was the first to break the circle, then, taking Carl and leaving the group, declaring that they were going to bed. Hershel seconded the idea and got up as well, Beth helping him, so that they could make their way to the room that they had chosen.

"How the hell'd ya survive out there?" Daryl called from the window. "Ya must be pretty damn good with that fuckin' knife."

Alice glanced in his direction, and after a moment she smiled, putting her can on the floor to her side. She shook her head.

"Not really…" she said. "I mean I guess I'm as good as anyone else. I've learned to stab the fuckers when I have to."

"But the rest a' ya group didn't know that?" Daryl asked.

Alice chuckled.

"This whole damn thing has been like a very elaborate fucking game of tag," Alice said. "It just so happens that I'm pretty fucking amazing at tag. One at a time everybody else just became "it". I'm still running. My time'll come, though…the bell tolls for everyone, right?"

"You don't think that there's a way to make it through this?" Maggie asked. As usual, Glenn leaned over, offering her a comforting arm.

Alice offered her a half smile.

"This? You mean the zombies and shit?" Alice asked. She didn't wait for Maggie to respond in anyway, though. "Sure, there are going to be people that make it through this, but you don't make it out alive anyway. You make it through this…something else is going to get you. I'm not being negative, I'm being realistic. One damn way or another we all have an expiration date."

Maggie shifted a little uncomfortably. She sat there only a moment longer before she finally got to her feet and pulled Glenn after her.

"Well, I think we're going to turn in too," she said. "Goodnight y'all."

The two of them said their farewells and walked into the other room where they'd chosen to lay their pallets out on an oriental rug that offered some nice padding to anyone searching for it.

Alice chuckled a little.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to be the Debbie Downer of the party," she said.

"You're right, though," T-Dog said. Carol looked at him and watched as he was studying Alice, not sitting too far from her. "I mean it sounds bad to say it, but that's been the truth forever, right? Nobody makes it out of life alive. We're just trying to prolong the experience as much as possible."

Alice nodded at him, offering him a half smile.

"Exactly…trying not to become "it"," she said.

T-Dog chuckled.

"Exactly…no one wants to be the next one to be "it,"' he responded. "We've all lost a lot of people along the way."

Carol decided to finally join in the conversation.

"Your girlfriend," she asked, realizing that everyone wanted to talk about their loved ones, especially if they could still believe they were out there, "what's her name?"

Alice smiled.

"Her name was Melodye…but I called her Mel or Mello. She hated the word girlfriend. She was always my "partner", but I hated that word. Sounds to me like we were supposed to be playing tennis together, you know? Or talking about company profits," Alice responded.

Alice was the next to get up then.

"I think I'm out," she said. She looked at T-Dog who seemed to be contemplating something all his own. "You better get to bed too…I don't want to have to keep your ass awake all damn day tomorrow."

T-Dog looked at her and chuckled.

"You start singing again and you're riding in the back of the truck," he responded. He got up as though he were going to join her, though. Carol called goodnight to them both and watched as they headed into the other room, the same one where she and Daryl intended to sleep, to settle down in their pallets.

Carol pulled herself off the floor and walked around the cans that littered the space. She supposed that anyone that came along their path later would wonder what had happened since they didn't make any efforts to clean up behind themselves.

Sometiems it seemed like they were the only people left alive and with so few hours at every stop there really wasn't the time or energy left to dedicate to cleaning up after themselves.

Carol walked over to the window where Daryl was sitting and staring out. She eased down next to him, resting on her knees, just close enough to smell the scent that was unmistakably Daryl.

"How's it look out there tonight?" She asked. She absentmindedly moved the empty can that he'd been eating from out of the way.

"'Bout the same damn way it does every night," Daryl said. "Dark."

Carol smiled.

"Walkers?"

"Not that I can see," Daryl said, "but ya can bet the fuckers are out there, visible or not, and even more of 'em are comin'."

Carol sighed.

Sometimes when she was close to Daryl like this she wished she had the excuse of the bike to lean in closer to him…to reach out and touch him. He accepted it on the bike, and every now and again he didn't flinch away from her if she put her hand on his arm or something like that, but she would have never dared to give into some of her other thoughts.

"Do you think we're going to find something, Daryl?" She asked. "I mean what we say we're looking for…some safe place?"

Daryl looked at her. The flicker from the low candle in the middle of the room sent bits of light shining in his eyes.

"If it's out there we'll find it," Daryl said. "I just ain't sure that it's really out there."

The farm, when they'd been there, had offered them all a false sense of security. For some of the time, when things were going well, it had seemed like they could live there in some little corner of paradise. In her dreams, at first, they'd found Sophia and they'd settled into an easy life there…or at least the best that they could hope for these days, but that had all been torn apart. Sophia had been found, already lost to the world, and then one thing at a time had destroyed any hope of the farm being more than a death trap…right up until the final straw when the herds had made themselves known.

It wasn't that Carol or anyone else wanted to be pessimistic. It was more that the world had all too often kicked them in their teeth any time they dared to be optimistic.

"I guess we just keep moving and hoping," Carol said with a sigh.

"Somethin' like that," Daryl said. "Like ya buddy said, it's a big damn game a' tag an' we all tryin' not ta be fuckin' "it"."

Carol sighed and put her hand on Daryl's shoulder, pushing herself toward her feet. She was tired and she knew that she needed to sleep…get the best of the hours offered her. She should be grateful that those who took watch were willing to sacrifice so that the rest of them could sleep, and wasting that time wasn't a very good way to show gratitude.

"You getting any sleep tonight?" She asked.

"I'ma wake Glenn up in a bit," Daryl said.

"Goodnight, then," Carol said. She started toward the room where their pallets were waiting and heard Daryl grumble a goodnight behind her. She lie down, the room quiet except for the sounds of breathing, and hoped for good dreams.

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"We need to find something safe soon," Hershel said, leaning over the hood of the truck where he'd spread the maps that Daryl considered more of a security blanket to the old man than anything really useful anymore. "How long can we expect to just keep going like this?"

Daryl thought the question wasn't really all that relevant. They'd long since lost track of how long they'd been going like this and there was no way to predict how long they'd last. If the stars lined up and shit worked out, he supposed they could go until they died. If it didn't, they'd just die a lot sooner.

"Question is where the fuck we goin'?" Daryl said. "Somewhere safe ain't no damn where. We passed a dozen fuckin' places that might be safe an' might not be safe. Real damn problem is we ain't gon' know if it's safe or not 'til we test it an' testin' the shit against them herds might mean we all just sittin' an' waitin' ta die."

"Unless," Glenn offered, "we're smart about it. Find a place that looks like it offers the best security possible…even if it's temporary…get set up as best we can and turn, ready to fight, when they get there. We might be able to clear out what's following us. Put the Walkers down before they break through whatever barricades we find."

Daryl chuckled.

"We might…" he said, nodding his head a little. "Didn't turn out so fuckin' hot for us on the farm, though, did it? We lost people tryin' ta hold the place."

"Glenn might not be all wrong, though," Hershel said. "The more we clear out, the fewer we have following us. It could take a while if the place we choose doesn't hold, but we could keep repeating the act and taking down what we could. We can't run forever."

Daryl shook his head a little.

"We ain't got the damn ammo to take 'em out like that. If all them Walkers is still on our trail we know we ain't gonna be able to handle 'em. Ya think we can take 'em out in hand ta hand combat? Ya willin' ta risk Maggie an' Beth on the chance we might?" Daryl asked.

Hershel lowered his head.

Daryl knew how he felt because he felt the same damn way about it. They wanted to find some magical place and they wanted the Walkers to evaporate, but this wasn't a fucking fairytale and that shit just didn't happen. If they stopped running, they had to start fighting, and they weren't exactly an army.

The three men stood there awkwardly for a moment in silence.

They were at a sort of pit stop and the women had all disappeared down to some creeks nearby to refill water and wash up quickly. Around them Rick and T-Dog were wandering somewhere, keeping watchful eyes out for Walkers that might want to surprise everyone.

"Hear me out," Hershel said after a moment. "We find a place we think might hold. A gated community…something with barriers. We go a couple hours' ride from there and we leave Lori, Carl, Beth…give them a chance to make it. The rest of us come back to the place we chose and we do our best to clear the herd from our protected space. If we don't make it back they get a chance to go on. Carl and Beth…that baby…they're the future of all this. If we do make it, then we get to find a place and stop running. Even if we lessen the threat, shrink the herd, it's better than what we've got now."

"We don't even try to take them all out," Glenn seconded. "Just lessen the numbers…that's really what I'm trying to say too. Eventually we'll get control of them."

"Or we'll all die," Daryl said.

"I'm an old man," Hershel said. "I'm going to die anyway. If I knew that it was going to save anyone's life for me to go ahead and do it, then I guess I'm just as ready as I'll ever be."

Daryl sighed and shook his head.

"Fine…I guess it's as good a damn time as any to die? Right?" He said. He wasn't sure he believed his own words entirely. He wasn't exactly scared of dying, but he wasn't a fool that wanted to run toward it head on if it seemed entirely hopeless. This life, though, the running constantly, really wasn't a life at all.

Daryl didn't know what he really expected them to find, but he wanted them to find something better than this. He'd never done much with his life before all this shit happened and now he kind of wanted to kick his own ass. Shitty as it had been, he felt like he should have tried to enjoy what sorry excuse for a life he had before it became all running tail and killing stinking hunks of flesh.

He hoped that if they did figure out a way to get a handle on things, and if they did figure out how in the hell to get control of these herds and find some kind of fucking peace in the middle of a world gone mad, he learned from his mistakes a little and figured out how the hell to appreciate that peace and make the best of it.

If there wasn't any peace to be found, though, then he guessed he might as well go ahead and throw himself into the fray.

Daryl bit at his cuticle.

"Let's find Rick," he said. "Need ta talk ta him 'fore we tell every damn body we gettin' ready to sacrifice their asses on a ghost of a fuckin' chance."

Hershel and Glenn didn't respond, but they did exchange glances that Daryl didn't miss. He walked away from them while they went in search of Rick. He lit a cigarette and stood kicking at the loose bits of rock on asphalt road.

It was a half ass plan if there ever was a half ass plan, but these days that's about all they fucking had. He'd hope for the best, but he'd go down fighting on that hope if he had to. He had less to live for than most the others anyway. He smoked his cigarette, keeping an eye out for Walkers, and waited to hear what Rick was going to have to say about the half-baked scheme.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: It's been a really busy day here today, but I did get a little bit of an update out here for you. I might try to update something else later tonight.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! If you feel so inclined, please review and let me know what you think! **

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Rick thought that idea of at least trying to lessen the herd following them was a good one. The only problem, of course, meant that whoever was left at the end of the battle had to outrun the herd in order to make it to the refuge they'd established where they would leave those that weren't going to fight.

Daryl thought the whole damn thing was a goat roping fiasco. If half-baked ideas were kingdoms they'd all be wearing some damn crowns for this one.

"I don't know who's dumber," Daryl declared. "Them that come up with this shit or them that ain't got the damn sense not ta fuckin' go along with it."

The plan, if you could even call it that, was simply herd control at this point. The barn they were all currently located at was sort of their starting point. At sunup they would put a day's ride between this barn and whatever they found at the end of the day that could both protect those they left behind as well as be easy for those who survived the battle to find in the case that they weren't thinking clearly enough to find something located off the beaten path.

That part was simple enough. They would decide there, for sure, who the hell was going to stay there in so called safety, and who the hell was going into the thick of things.

The morning after dropping off the ones that would be left behind, the fighting group would return back here…which would essentially be a full day's trip, stay for the night, and then they'd backtrack to a place they'd found about two hours from the location that boasted being a retirement home but looked more like an insane asylum completely circled by iron rod fences. The idea was they'd lay in wait there, call whatever Walkers came toward the fences, and take out what they could.

Those that survived, assuming that the Walkers didn't just plow down the fences and kill every last damn one of them, would then return to the safe haven where the others were and move on, knowing that Walkers were coming…they were always coming…but at least there weren't so damn many of them.

"We can't outrun them forever," Carol said. She was lying next to where Daryl sat, brooding in the darkness because he couldn't sleep. The whole damn thing felt like a suicide mission. He couldn't come up with anything better, and he knew they couldn't outrun the fuckers forever either, but it almost felt like they were systematically giving up the fight.

"Can't outrun 'em forever, ya right," Daryl said. He sighed. "Hope ta hell if we don't come back y'all can at least outrun 'em a lil' damn longer. Hate ta know we just fuckin' rolled over for nothin'."

Daryl lie down on his pallet now beside Carol. He needed to get some sleep and he knew that. If they stood any chance at all of staging some kind of epic Walker battle they were going to need to keep up with their rest.

"What do you mean?" Carol asked. "If y'all don't come back? I'm going with you."

"The hell you are," Daryl said. He couldn't believe Carol would even dream of going into something like this. "Women an' Carl stayin' behind."

Carol shifted around next to him, elbowing him in the chest and he gasped a little.

"Sorry," she said. She paused a moment and he could tell that she was hovering over him, her breath hot on his face.

"S'alright," he said. "Lay ya ass back down though, ya gotta sleep."

"I'm going with you," Carol said. "I'm not staying behind like I can't fight."

Daryl chuckled.

"Ya can't fight," he said. "'Sides, this shit's dangerous. Ya gotta stay with the rest a' the women."

"That wasn't what we discussed," Carol said. "The idea…or at least my understanding of it…was that Lori would stay behind because she's pregnant. Carl's a child and Beth is too practically. I'm not a child and I'm certainly not pregnant, so I'm going to fight. This is our group, Daryl…it's our family…and lessening the Walker threat is important to us all."

"Ya crazy an' ya ain't fightin'," Daryl said, responding to the annoyance in Carol's voice with his own annoyance. Their contact with fighting Walkers hand to hand had been limited to a few good fights and they'd never actually sat in waiting without even knowing what was coming.

Besides, if he was fighting there was a good damn chance that this was going to come down to every man for himself and he wasn't going to be able to save her this time…

"We'll talk about this tomorrow," Carol said. "Get some sleep…you need your rest or neither one of us is going to be fit to fight."

"Ain't nothin' ta talk about," Daryl grumbled, keeping his voice low enough to not start an argument. He knew that they would be talking about this, but he had all intentions of making sure her ass stayed behind, one way or the other.

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As Carol got off the bike at the designated "safe" house, she felt the urge to prove a point to Daryl. She wasn't staying here and sitting around while anyone else went back to fight the herd that was coming. It was a threat, plain and clear. It was a threat to all of them. When it finally did catch up with them, and eventually it would because they couldn't keep going forever, it would be just as much a threat to her as it was to anyone else. She wasn't going to be put away somewhere.

It made sense for Lori to stay behind. She was pregnant. She had a child. Carl needed his mother in this world and the baby depended on Lori. It made sense for Beth to stay behind. She was still a kid herself and she could help Lori if they didn't return. Those things made sense.

In all reality, Carol wouldn't hold it against anyone else who stayed behind simply because they couldn't face the idea of heading toward the herd, but she wasn't going to be one of those people. She didn't have Sophia any longer. She didn't have a responsibility to anyone, honestly, and she'd rather know that she fought trying to make the future better for their group instead of waiting around to see whether or not people made it back.

Besides, whether she would have admitted it or not, she wasn't sure she wanted to go on without Daryl. She didn't want to lose him. She knew that she loved him, and whether or not he could ever love her, that feeling was something that consumed her. She couldn't wait behind knowing that he might never come back…that she might be without him. She was going to fight.

And she was going to prove she had just as much balls as anyone else when it came to the Walkers. So as soon as they all started stretching their legs, discussing who would go in and clear the house, she took her chance, and palming the handle of her knife, she went toward the house that would be their safe house as quickly as she could, ignoring the voices of anyone calling behind her.

The yard was clear of Walkers, at least for the time being, and Carol was up the steps to the front door of the house before half of the people behind her even probably realized what she was doing. She tried the knob and found the house, somewhat to her surprise, to be unlocked. She swung the door open and stepped back quickly, expecting some long hidden Walker to spring out at her because of the disturbance.

When nothing came, though, she stepped cautiously inside and looked around, turning the corner and checking for anything moving, focusing her hearing to listen for the growls and snarls of any Walkers trapped in the house.

She was maybe a little too focused because she nearly died of a cardiac episode when she heard Daryl's voice booming behind her and definitely drawing the attention of any would-be Walkers in the house.

"What the fuck are ya thinkin'!" Daryl spat.

Carol turned quickly, gasping at his presence. He was behind her, his crossbow drawn and read to fire.

"I'm clearing out the Walkers," Carol said, her voice coming out more ragged than she wanted it to.

The conversation might have continued from there, but for the moment it was interrupted by the approach of a Walker. Carol quickly summoned her courage and rushed toward the animated corpse, her knife sinking into its skull with a quick crunch and bringing it down just an arrow whizzed past her head, her ear picking up the sound of wind whistling, and sunk into the opposite wall.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl spat behind her. "What is goin' through ya fuckin' head right now! I almost shot'cha in the head 'cause ya a dumbass!"

Carol ripped her knife loose from the dead Walker's head just as she felt Daryl's finger's close around the upper part of her arm and roughly snatch her around. She heard at the same time a distinctive growl behind her and as he spun her she saw him sink an arrow into another Walker's head, his bow clattering to the ground.

Carol heard a yelp and as she focused her eyes and the now dead Walker dropped to the floor, it revealed Alice standing directly behind it, her knife half raised as though she meant to strike, and Rick standing directly behind her, a hatchet in his hand. Both of them looked, for the moment, frozen in some kind of action sequence. Alice wide eyed, Rick focused.

"Easy on the domestic dispute, cowboy!" Alice spat, her knife still raised and her eyes no less wide than before. "We heard the noise and thought there might be trouble."

Carol realized she was panting, her knife still in her hand, Daryl holding her by the upper part of the arm. His other hand was empty now, having once held the arrow which had struck the bullseye in the competition for what would take down the fallen Walker on the floor.

"Are there anymore?" Rick asked, lowering his hatchet and bringing action back to the frozen set.

Daryl growled a little.

"Don't fuckin' know," he said. "Ain't made it no damn farther than this…Carol's got some kind a fuckin' death wish."

Carol turned to look at him then, his eyes flashing a little even as he looked at Rick.

"I don't have a death wish!" Carol protested. "I wanted to help clear the house. You seem to think that I'm not fit to kill Walkers, but I killed that one."

"We got a fuckin' process ta clearin' the damn places we stop!" Daryl yelled back, tightening his grip on his arm. "Ya 'bout got'cha ass killed is what'cha did!"

"I killed a Walker," Carol responded. "It's not my fault you weren't paying attention and decided to shoot without waiting to see if I was going to take it down."

"Ya don't wait with Walkers," Daryl shot back. "Waitin' gets ya ass killed!"

"Apparently not waiting gets you killed," Carol said, narrowing her eyes at Daryl and ignoring the fact that he hadn't let go of her arm.

"I hate to break up this lovely…whatever you've got going on here," Alice said, "but the house seems clear. You can help bring things in…whenever you're done."

Carol sucked in a breath trying to calm her annoyance at being treated like a child and turned to realize that while they'd been discussing the Walker that she'd killed and Daryl had fired at, Rick and Alice had apparently scanned the rest of the space and found it clear.

Daryl curled his lip a little and let go of Carol's arm, reaching down to pick up the crossbow he'd dropped in the confusion and examine it.

Carol huffed and started out to bring in supplies with the rest of them. They had to sort things and get everything ready for those that would stay behind and those of them that would go. Carol was sure they hadn't had the final discussion about the battle, but she wasn't backing down on this one. Daryl could growl and snort all he wanted, but there was no logical reason for her to stay behind, cowering in the house, with the pregnant woman and the children.

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"Women an' children stay behind," Daryl protested when the topic was opened again that night after dinner. They were all supposed to be going to sleep soon to prepare for the day long trip back to the barn they'd left that morning and now Carol, Maggie, and Alice all three thought they should go along.

"What the fuck is this?" Alice spat. "Fuck that patriarchy, damsel in distress bullshit…I'm going."

Daryl curled his lip at her.

"Fine, I don't give a damn if ya go or not. You welcome ta go an' get'cha ass killed. Least we plucked ya outta the damn woods for somethin'," Daryl responded.

Daryl had expected the woman to protest in some way to his flippancy, or maybe to change her mind once it wasn't something she was being "forbidden" to do, like a child, but she leaned her ass back against the wall and smiled like she was satisfied.

"You're a doctor," Rick said. "What kind of doctor?"

"A cardiologist…or I was. I mean I'm a doctor…a licensed medical doctor…so I'm a bit of a jack of all trades," Alice responded. "But my specialty is cardiology."

"You're better fit than me to help with Lori," Hershel said. "Maybe you should consider staying behind for Lori's sake."

"What?" Alice asked. "To deliver a baby? Any nitwit can deliver a baby if everything's fine…and if everything isn't…well…all I've got at this point are my good intentions. I'm about as useful as a nitwit in these conditions."

Carol watched as Rick pinched his temples. Carol knew that Lori hadn't been able to deliver Carl naturally. Reason would have it that she wouldn't be able to deliver this baby either. She'd need a caesarian section. Hershel though he might be able to perform one if he needed to, but he was practicing under essentially the same thought process Alice had right now. In order for that to be reasonable, they were going to have to get somewhere where they had more supplies available to them besides a few dirty towels, a hunting knife, a needle and thread, and…as Alice put it…good intentions. Lori's need of c-section was something that few people in the group knew about, though, and those who did know about it were choosing not to talk about it now…they were leaving the elephant in the room.

"Listen," Alice said after a moment, "the truth of the damn matter is none of you know me from Adam. Let me go out there and let me fight. If my number's up, it's up. You don't even have to hold a memorial service or whatever…it's no big loss to you. If, though, I go out there and I fight and I fucking live, then I don't get stared at anymore when I'm unloading the vehicles like I'm going to run off with shit and people don't move their fucking pallets away from mine like I have the damn bubonic plague…deal?"

"Nobody thinks…" Rick started.

"Ahh! Ahh!" Alice clucked at him as though she were reprimanding a small child. "I just asked if we had a fucking deal. I'm going any damn way."

Rick sighed.

Carol figured it was her turn because she had all intentions of going too. She couldn't pull exactly the same "logic" as Alice, but she could put her own spin on things.

"I'm going too," Carol said. She didn't look at Daryl. She heard him emit a low growl in his throat and she knew that he thought she was too weak and too useless to take care of herself. "I'm going to do what I can for the good of the group," she continued. "I'm just as able bodied as anyone else. I'm going to fight."

Carol kept her eyes on Rick and noticed when he glanced in Daryl's direction.

"It might be best if you stayed here. Someone's going to have to stay with Lori. If none of us come back it's going to be difficult for her to move on with just Carl and Beth," Rick argued.

"Let Maggie stay behind," Carol responded.

"I'm not staying!" Maggie protested.

Carol huffed. She didn't want to have to go through all the nitty gritty details about why it made sense for some of them to die and others to live, but it looked like she was going to have to do it. She did her best to draw herself up so that she wouldn't let any emotion seep through with what she had to say.

"Maggie, you're younger than I am. You're more fit to keep going on in this world anyway," Carol said. Maggie started to protest and Carol held her hand up to stop her. "If something were to happen…and we didn't make it back…it would be hard enough for Beth to lose your father. She doesn't need to lose you too. If one of us is staying to help everyone forward, it's really you that's made for it, not me."

Daryl got up from his position without saying anything to anyone. Carol watched out of the corner of her eye, careful not to fully make eye contact with him, as he picked up his crossbow and stalked out of the room. A few minutes later she heard the heavy wooden door of the house close. He was probably sulking or smoking or something of the like. No one really seemed concerned about his impromptu absence.

Rick shook his head.

"I don't know what to say," he said. Carol could see that he was exhausted and she didn't know if it had to do with the full day's ride that they had put in, the danger they were all facing, the mention of Lori's delivery, or actually the conversation at hand. Any one of them could prove to be an exhausting topic for the person that would dare call themselves the leader of this group. "Maggie, are you fine with staying behind?"

"I'm not fine with it," Maggie said, "but I do think that someone needs to stay behind."

Carol reached over and patted Maggie on the leg. She could tell that the girl was reluctant to accept the position, but really it was best. If it came down to the two of them, Maggie was more fit to handle the world moving forward than Carol was. She was younger and she'd be of more assistance to Lori.

Carol felt though, for some reason, that they'd come back from this. She knew that Daryl thought the plan was faulty…and maybe it wasn't the best thought out plan they could have ever come up with, but it seemed reasonable. The place they'd found was enclosed and the iron fences looked secure. As long as everyone was careful to move quickly when then went in toward the bars to stab the Walkers, no one should end up being hurt during the actual process. Rick was also planning to have some of them shooting from the roof of the place if it was possible to help lessen the numbers of the herd.

Carol knew there were a good number of things that could go wrong both during and after their fight, but she couldn't help but think that the plan wasn't as bad as Daryl seemed to think it was.

Regardless, though, of if it would work or not, she was going out there and she was going to show the group that she was good for more than simply cooking and washing their clothes. She could be part of protecting their group too and facilitating their moving forward.

The smaller herd following them would mean that they didn't have to push themselves so dramatically to keep ahead of it. It would mean that they rested better without the constant stress and strain of imagining what was coming. It would mean that they were more likely to find somewhere to stay that could actually hold up to what they needed to protect themselves from. Lessening the size of the herd was something that simply needed to be done, and Carol was going to be part of it.

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The end of the conversation had marked the end of the evening. Everyone was tired and most people were looking somewhat heavily at the days to come. Carol had passed by one of the front windows and peered out the curtains to find Daryl out there smoking and keeping watch for Walkers. He was one of the few of them that dared to be outside in the dark. He was also one of the only ones that never got questioned about his actions.

Carol opened the door quietly and stepped out onto the porch, standing a few feet away from Daryl.

"Get back inside," he growled.

"Much activity tonight?" Carol asked, rubbing at her arms and realizing there was a hint of chill to the air.

"Why? Ya was thinkin' a goin' runnin' out there an' tryin' ta kill 'em all yaself in the dark?" Daryl asked.

Carol frowned but she knew he couldn't see it. More than she wanted to prove to everyone else that she was good for something…or rather good at something…besides laundry and cooking, she wanted to prove it to Daryl.

Daryl respected people who had skills…people who got things done. He was kind to her and he was her friend, but she felt like he would look even more kindly on her if he thought she wasn't someone who had to be looked out for all the time.

She felt like she hadn't exactly done the best job up to now in proving that she had just as much mettle as anyone else, and she felt like this could be her chance. She only hoped that she wasn't wrong and that his pouting over thinking she was going out there to get herself killed wasn't merited.

"We're all coming back from this," Carol said. "Every one of us."

She wasn't one hundred percent certain of her words, that was true, but she was optimistic. Besides, there was no sense in brooding on what might happen. They had no real way to predict at all what the future held for any of them.

Daryl didn't respond to her in any way. He just sat there, looking out at whatever the darkness revealed. Carol sighed, finally realizing that he wasn't going to respond or really do anything until he was good and ready to.

"Get some sleep tonight, Daryl," Carol said. "Tomorrow's a long drive and you don't want to be exhausted."

She didn't know what else to say. She couldn't and wouldn't say all the things that her mind wanted her to say, so she left it at that. She turned and went back inside, leaving him to brood for however long he needed to before he realized that they were all going tomorrow, minus the four that had been determined would stay behind, and they were going to face this herd and hopefully gain a little peace of mind for them all in the coming future.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: It's been a busy day around here, but I wanted to try and get a little something out for everyone. **

**As always, I thank you all for your reviews and comments, even if I don't get around to thanking you individually. I'm glad to see that you're liking this story. I have a lot of plans for it so I hope I can do them all justice as we continue! **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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It was a quiet day on the road. No one in the truck really had anything to talk about. What was there left to say? Daryl was driving the truck, loaded down with what supplies they were taking, and Rick, Hershel, Glenn, and T-Dog followed behind him in Rick's vehicle.

They'd said their goodbyes that morning, and it had been fairly quick for Daryl. It wasn't that he didn't care at all for the people they were leaving behind, but his heart wasn't exactly being wrenched out of his chest by the thought of never seeing them again. He'd mostly nodded his farewell and spent the time while everyone else was pretending that they weren't taking their possible last looks at each other smoking a cigarette and leaning against the hood of the truck.

Now he was wedged in, driving, with Carol beside him and the new chick, Alice, leaning against the door. He'd worried that covering the distance with two women in such a small space would cause him to want to run the truck off the road, but the women were silent for the most part.

They'd left behind one quarter of the ammunition and firearms and several of the weapons they'd accumulated. They'd only brought enough food with them to last the group through two nights, possibly three, figuring that if they didn't survive it was those that would be moving on who most needed it. They'd brought just enough of the medical supplies to handle some minor injuries…

Daryl figured in this fight there wouldn't be any medical assistance necessary. Either you lived or you didn't, that was it. They were either making it out of this or they weren't. The only assistance they'd likely be offering each other was a loving bullet to the brain if you were bit.

And so this was their Calvary…five men and two women….riding into the absolute fucking unknown. They'd arrive at the retirement home they were fighting at the coming morning and they wouldn't know if they were going to face down five Walkers or five hundred with all their protection coming from the blind hope they invested in some probably long dead contractors who were responsible for putting up the rod iron fencing that would be all that was protecting their group.

They drove through the day and Daryl was surprised at how few stops they made along the way. In fact, just the lack of the four people they'd left behind had them rolling up at the barn they were passing the night in long before they'd planned to get there.

When Daryl stopped the truck outside the barn he didn't say anything to his travel companions. He got out and stretched his legs as he dug a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. They still had daylight on their side…a lot more than they'd thought they would have.

"We made good time," Rick called, closing the car door behind him.

"Ain't hardly stopped," Daryl said. He didn't throw in that being minus Rick's wife and kid they had a lot fewer reasons to stop all the damn time for her to pick wildflowers or whatever the fuck it was that required Lori to get out of the car every hour or so.

"It's good, though…" Rick said. "We'll get a good meal…get some rest. Be ready for the morning."

"You want us to go ahead and start unloading?" T-Dog asked, walking up toward Rick. Rick looked at Daryl and then nodded.

"Probably better to move everything inside," Rick said. "We don't know if there might be groups in the area who might stop by and want to have a look at our ammunition. We can't afford to spare any at this point."

"We got a damn plan tomorrow or we runnin' our asses in there like the fuckin' Apple Dumplin' Gang?" Daryl asked.

Rick shook his head.

"I figured we'll talk strategy after dinner. Pretty basic, though…those who can shoot go on the roof with guns, those who can't are on the ground. Hand to hand…I'm open for suggestions if you've got them," Rick said.

Daryl shook his head slightly. He noticed Alice and Carol already headed into the barn, knives drawn, to make sure that no Walkers had settled in during their absence.

"Keep an eye out for fuckin' Thelma an' Louise," Daryl said. "Gotta take a piss an' I'll be back ta get this shit outta the truck."

Daryl didn't wait for a response from any of the men behind him. He cast a final glance at the barn where the women had disappeared, listened for a second for any noise, and then started down toward the wooded area to relieve himself.

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They'd made quick work of unloading the few supplies that they had and dinner had been quick and easy. There wasn't enough protection in the area to dare building a fire, so everyone had resigned themselves to eating directly from whatever cans their hands fell on out of the small box of food that they'd brought with them.

With just a little daylight left, Carol excused herself to take her things and go down toward the creek that wasn't too far behind the barn. She wanted to wash up and it was the perfect opportunity.

Normally someone, namely Daryl, would have protested her decision to go alone to the water, but Carol noticed that he didn't say anything tonight. He glanced in her direction before turning his attention to picking at his fingernails with the tip of his pocket knife. Carol felt like he was pouting with her, or something of the like, for having decided to take part in this. She only hoped that all went well tomorrow and he was able to see that he was worrying without reason.

Carol got down to the water and looked around. The area was lightly wooded and there were no signs of Walkers around. She was almost giddy at the thought of being able to really bathe without trying to cower down and hide from Lori, Maggie, or Beth…all of which she felt would judge her if they could see what her body looked like…if they could see that she wasn't as young or as pretty as they were and that her skin wasn't flawless by any stretch of the imagination.

Carol stripped her clothes off and piled the dirty ones on the side of the bank near where she'd rested the clean ones she planned to put on after her bath. She put her knife right by the water so that she could grab it if she needed to. She took the rag she'd brought with her, and the cake of soap, and she waded out into the water until it got deep enough to reach her thighs, which judging from the size of the creek, was likely its deepest point.

Carol dipped down and let the cool water wash over her. Out here, in the quiet, it was almost easy to forget everything. It was almost possible to forget everything they'd all been through and everything they were likely to go through. At this moment she could fully understand why it was that Daryl talked about the woods as being the only place that he could really relax.

Rustling in the leaves broke Carol's contemplation and she eased over on her hands and knees, sliding as quietly as possible in the water toward the bank, trying to stay low, so she could reach her knife that was lying just on the edge. As her fingertips touched the handle and she brought her feet up under her in case she needed to be up in a hurry, the guilty party crunched through some light shrubbery nearby.

Carol let out the breath she was holding when she realized it was Alice.

"I don't have any clothes on," Carol protested. From her current position Alice could see maybe her head and shoulders.

"Damn…you heard me!" Alice responded. "I was hoping to catch you off guard and throw your clothes a couple of feet so I'd get a real good show before you got them back."

Carol snickered. Alice was obviously making no effort at all to be quiet. She seldom did.

She also wasn't making any effort to stop her descent toward the water and Carol felt her stomach churn at the thought of the younger woman seeing her as unshielded as she was. Before she could protest anymore, though, Alice stopped by the edge of the waterway and had wrestled her way out of her pants and underwear…or rather Carol's pants and underwear. She stepped into the water and then peeled the shirt off, tossing it back over the side with the rest of her clothes.

Alice waded straight out into the water as though Carol wasn't even there, still leaning against the bank.

"I hope you brought soap…" Alice said.

Carol realized that in her movement toward the bank she'd kept the rag but lost the soap somewhere.

"I dropped it," she admitted.

"I hope to fuck it was Ivory…" Alice said. "Least that shit floats."

Carol watched as the brunette went about, obviously kicking a little at the creek floor. You could almost see straight through to the bottom, but the water was murky enough to hide a bar of soap that didn't want to be found.

"It was more in front of me…" Carol said, realizing that Alice wasn't exactly in the right area to find the soap, especially if it had bothered to venture with the current at all.

"Well get your scrawny ass over here and help me find it!" Alice said, not looking up. "I'm not the only one who smells like ass in that barn. Soap is important!"

Carol snickered and eased over on her hands and knees, not wanting to come completely out of the water. They both searched for a moment before Alice emerged, victorious and holding the soap as though she'd found some kind of great prize. Carol passed her the rag so she could wash first.

Alice accepted and went to washing herself, standing a couple of feet away from Carol, unashamed. Carol looked at her and thought the brunette had very little reason to hide her body. She was averagely built. She had a large scar on her side, presumably from a removed appendix, and a band tattooed around her right arm, but other than that her skin was mostly unblemished.

"What does your tattoo mean?" Carol asked.

Alice looked at it a moment like she'd never seen it before and then went back to washing, dipping her head and scrubbing at her hair with the soap for lack of shampoo.

"It means kiss my ass Mom and Dad," Alice said. Carol chuckled and waited for her to rinse her hair.

"Rebellious teen?" Carol asked.

"Worse," Alice responded, squeezing water out of her shoulder length hair. "Rebellious twenty something. That almost killed the fuckers. My sister…Dorothy…Dot…she was the rebellious teen…but then she got married and popped out a couple of kids and she was the good kid."

Carol snickered.

"Your sister's name was Dorothy?" Carol asked.

Alice smiled.

"That's some shit, isn't it? We always said that if we'd had a brother his fucking name would have been Peter or some shit like that," Alice said. She handed Carol the bar of soap and rag and settled back in the water, soaking.

Carol had thought she might leave when she was clean, but it appeared she wasn't going anywhere.

"Wash," Alice commanded. "Your boyfriend sent me down here so I'm not going back without you."

Carol looked at her.

"I told you…" she started.

"I know, I know…you're single…and I'm a nun," Alice said. "Let me guess, you're just friends with the cowboy?"

"Daryl and I _are_ just friends," Carol said. "There's really nothing else there."

"Mmmm…" Alice said. "Which one of you is too chicken shit to make the move? Or is it both of you?" She asked.

"It's not like that," Carol said.

"Wash!" Alice commanded. "Seriously…if you don't hurry up and wash we're going to run out of daylight and he's coming after us…although…he might like that."

Carol sighed and stood up finally, starting to wash, well aware that Alice was looking at her. She didn't want to glance over and see the concern or the pity or whatever it might be that played on the woman's face since she would clearly be able to see from the distance between them all the marks that Ed and Mother Nature both had been kind enough to leave on her. Finally, though, as Carol came up from dipping her head to rinse the soap out of her short locks, she let her eyes glance over to Alice who was looking at her, but her face was expressionless.

"You're a peeping Tom," Carol said, starting toward the bank. Alice pulled herself out the water and started toward the bank as well.

Alice chuckled at Carol.

"Not a peeping Tom…just a human," Alice said. "Don't even pretend you weren't looking at me…I saw you. It's only fair that I get to look too…besides let's just say I'm on the out list for tomorrow…would you deny me one last look before I go?"

Carol rolled her eyes and started drying off. She realized, though, that for the moment she wasn't uncomfortable being naked. Whether or not it had to do with the fact that Alice was a doctor and therefore had probably seen it all, or what, there hadn't been any uncomfortable facial expressions from the woman. It wasn't the same kind of look that, for instance, Carol had gotten from Andrea one time when they'd bathed together and Andrea had looked at her like she pitied her.

They both got dressed quietly then. Each focusing on wrestling dry clothes over damp bodies that threadbare towels never seemed to get dry.

"Do you think any of us is going to die tomorrow?" Carol asked softly, gathering up her clothes.

She didn't feel like it was going to be tragic…not really…but there was the tinge of a slight gnawing her stomach that reminded her how seldom we actually really know when our worlds are about to be turned upside down.

Alice shrugged.

"You mean in the fight?" Alice asked. "Hard to say," she said without waiting for Carol to respond. "I suppose, though, that fight or no fight we've all got just about as good a chance to die tomorrow as we had to fucking die today."

"Is that your perspective on the end of the world?" Carol asked.

Alice chuckled a little and shook her head.

"That's always been my perspective on life…or at least for a long time it has been," Alice said. "When I was…sixteen I think…my best friend tried to commit suicide," Alice paused. "Well, maybe she didn't try exactly…but she was planning on it and I stopped her." Alice ran her fingers through her hair and smiled at Carol. "I told her that it was fine if she was ready to go…because I realized that it doesn't really matter when we go, we're all going…but that there better be two damn bullets in that gun because I was coming to. She didn't want me to do it."

"So what happened?" Carol asked.

Alice shrugged.

"She didn't do it…I didn't do it…we cried for a while…and I realized that any day was just as likely to be your last day as the other. For me it could have been that day…and it could be tomorrow. It's hard to tell," Alice said.

Carol swallowed and nodded a little. Her facial expression must not have been the most pleasant because Alice looked a little uncomfortable before finally clearing her throat and starting them moving forward, toward the barn.

"So you and your friend…going to keep the rest of us up tonight? Just in case? As friends…of course…" Alice said, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

Carol felt her cheeks burn.

"I told you…it's not like that, and don't say anything to him about it," Carol said. She knew that Daryl would be horrified if anyone so much as thought that he'd have anything going on with her. She couldn't imagine his reaction at the thought of it.

"He's too sensitive…" Alice said. "He's damn gun shy as it is. Still, you should go for it. There's nothing wrong with, in this case, a literal role in the hay among friends…even if it's not about anything but a good damn moment of feeling alive."

"That's for people like you," Carol said.

"People like me?" Alice responded. "You mean lesbians are the only people who are down for a casual fuck now and then?"

Carol scoffed at Alice.

"No…I mean young people…people who have the kinds of bodies that they're willing to go showing off like that…" Carol said.

Alice put her hand on Carol's shoulder and stopped her forward progress.

"And who the fuck are you? Grandma Moses? You've got a nice ass body…maybe you should show it off…among friends, of course," Alice said.

Carol frowned at her.

"You were looking at me," Carol said. "You know what I look like."

Alice smiled.

"Hell yeah I do," she said. "And you're lucky I'm a woman of honor or we'd be down there scaring the fuck out some fish right now," Alice said. "I was just asking if you were going to give the barn rats something to talk about…that's all. I didn't know how dedicated you were to pretending that there wasn't anything going on between you two."

Alice shrugged a little and started forward.

"I told you," Carol said, following behind her. "There's not!"

"I believe you…" Alice replied. "Don't worry…I believe you."

Alice darted on ahead, her steps toward the barn almost doubling Carol's now that they were in sight. Carol watched as Alice bounded toward Daryl who was leaning against the hood of the truck. She felt her breath catch, wondering what the woman might do, and then felt oddly relieved to see Daryl fish a cigarette out of his pocket and pass it to her. She lit it and stood puffing it as Carol walked up.

"You smoke?" Carol asked Alice.

Alice shrugged.

"Sometimes…gave it up for the most part, but I figure…what the hell, right?" Alice said. She laughed. "Somehow I just don't think it's going to be cigarettes that kill me these fucking days."

Daryl chuckled in response and Carol was glad to see he at least wasn't sulking like he had been earlier.

"See any fuckin' Walkers?" He asked.

"I saw one on my way down," Alice responded.

Carol shook her head.

"I didn't see any," she responded. "They're not too active right now."

"We'll see more than our fuckin' share tomorrow," Daryl said. "Ya can bet'cha tits on that shit."

Carol didn't respond to him verbally. Really there was nothing to say and she could tell from his facial expression that he wasn't expecting any kind of response. He was just making a statement…an observation. Tomorrow they were likely to see more Walkers gathered together than they'd seen thus far.

Rather than dwell on the possible negative aspects of it, though, Carol was determined to see this as a good experience. They'd face more Walkers than they'd ever seen before…and they'd come out triumphant…knowing that they could handle even more of this world that they'd ever thought they could.

Somehow Carol just couldn't believe that they weren't going to pull through this. She wasn't prepared to say goodbye to anyone else in the madness around them. That wasn't what this whole damn thing was about. This fight tomorrow wasn't about death and it wasn't about endings. It was about them coming out on top and making what was coming easier.

"Did you put out the pallets?" She asked, turning to Daryl. He shook his head. "Any preference for location?" Carol asked. He shook his head in response to that as well.

Carol smiled at him.

"Then I'm going to find a spot," she said. "Everyone needs to get a good night's rest tonight."

"I'm comin' soon," Daryl said, flicking his cigarette at the ground. "Gonna walk down and rinse off…don't wait up."

"Be careful," Carol said, watching as Daryl reached around on the hood of the car, picking up some clothes he had resting there, and started down toward the water.

"Always am," he called back.

Carol ignored the look that she knew Alice was giving her and went inside to get the pallets ready. She didn't know if she'd be able to sleep as much as she wanted tonight, simply from sheer adrenaline, but she was going to give it the best effort she could.

When Daryl finally came in, smelling of creek water, soap, and damp smoke, he lie down on the pallet next to her. Carol thought, briefly, about what Alice had said and pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She tortured herself enough at night with thoughts about things that would never happen with Daryl and she knew they were really inappropriate since Daryl would never think those things about her. She turned her attention, instead, to trying to force herself to dream about peaceful things as she lie close to him in the darkness, breathing in his scent combined with the smell of the stale hay around them…and finally she drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: OK, so I hate writing battle scenes. Anyone who's ever read anything of mine knows that I just hate it. It's not my forte and it's not my cup of tea. I guess it's a good thing that "action" isn't my chosen genre. Ha ha! That being said, I wanted to go ahead and get this chapter out so that it's behind me and we can move on with the story. **

**Even if it's not the greatest ever, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think. **

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The morning was hazy and overcast when they pulled up outside the retirement home they were using for cover. No one had so much as uttered a word while they choked down breakfast and loaded the truck.

Daryl opened the truck door and got out knowing that Carol and Alice were spilling out the other side and the car in front of him was emptying. He went directly to the back of the truck and started gathering up all that he could carry to take inside the gates.

Glenn was a mastermind when it came to locks and he had the gate open before everyone else could even gather up the weapons and bags of ammunition. They quietly carried everything inside and the gate closed with a metallic clang behind them.

Everyone stood in a poorly shaped circle in the fog as Rick started opening bags to hand out weapons and ammo as was designated. He handed Daryl a gun and Daryl accepted the rifle and threw the duffle bag over his shoulder.

"Can you shoot?" Rick asked, holding a rifle somewhat in the direction of Alice.

"I can shoot all damn day," Alice said. "I'm the shootenest damn thing you ever saw…but I probably wouldn't hit anything."

Rick frowned. He looked around and finally handed a gun to Hershel.

"I guess that means that Daryl, Hershel, and I will take the roof. You guys will be down here. We don't have a lot of ammo so we'll be putting up cover fire for you more than anything," Rick said.

Daryl's stomach churned at the thought of going on the roof of the building and leaving Glenn, T-Dog, Carol, and Alice down on the ground to fight through the fence. If things got out of hand the people on the roof were essentially safe, at least until they had to come down. And up there they'd have weapons and they'd have time to work on a plan B. The people on the ground didn't have much of a plan B option.

Daryl immediately made a mental note that if they made it through this they were taking back up with Shane's plan to make sure everyone was good with a gun. Everyone.

Shane Walsh hadn't always had a lot of good ideas…and he'd been fucked up more than he'd been right in the time that Daryl had known him, but right now Daryl was wishing they'd stuck with Shane's plan to make sure that everyone could shoot. At least if she could shoot, Carol could be on the roof. If anything went wrong she'd have a chance…it might not be a great chance…but it would be better than nothing.

Daryl passed the duffle bag and the gun to Rick.

"Y'all go find the way up," Daryl said. "I'ma help make sure everythin's set up down here."

Rick nodded and he and Hershel went with Glenn to get into the building and find the easiest route to the roof. Daryl looked around them. The morning wasn't offering them the best visibility ever, but it was all they had so it was what they were going to go with.

The fences looked secure, and Daryl hoped that for once looks weren't deceiving. He started toward the fence, grabbing Alice roughly by the top of the arm as he passed by her.

"Ya any damn good hand ta hand?" He asked, turning her to look at him.

Alice frowned at him.

"I suppose I get by," she said. "I'm not going to say I'm fucking G.I. Jane if that's what you're looking for, but I can stab a zombie if I need to."

Now it was Daryl's turn to frown. This was feeling more and more like one of the dumbest ass things he'd ever done. He turned then, directing his attention to all of them.

"Here's the fuckin' thing," Daryl said. He realized that no one else was going to address the damn issues so he was going to handle strategy if that's what the fuck he had to do. It wasn't the best strategy, but at least it was something. "Y'all gon' spread the fuck out around the fences. Don't let 'em get too damn bunched up in no place. Make all the fuckin' noise ya can so they ain't got no chance ta push their way through. Ya get the fuck in, take 'em down, back the fuck up. Remember, these fuckin' bars is wide enough that'cha can squeeze ya damn arms through there an' that means them fuckers can too."

Everyone was looking at Daryl wide eyed. He couldn't remember ever having had this much attention on him. Glenn had come back now, joining them, and Daryl cast a glance toward the roof seeing Rick and Hershel above, preparing.

"If the fuckin' fence gives, get ta the damn buildin' fast as ya can an' find the fuckin' roof. Don't not a damn one of ya try ta be no fuckin' hero!" He spat. He glanced in Carol's direction quickly. She was standing there, listening, her arms folded.

Jesus he didn't want to leave her down here on the ground. She couldn't shoot for shit, though. It wasn't really her fault…no one had ever given her much of a chance. She'd done a few rounds with Shane, but they hadn't kept it up. She needed practice. If Daryl had any damn sense he would have taken her out a couple of times, but he hadn't…he hoped now that she didn't pay the price for it. She was his best friend, after all, and now that he didn't know if he'd ever see his brother's worthless hide again, that was about all the fuck he had left.

"Where's the access to the roof?" Daryl asked, shooting his attention in Glenn's direction.

"It's easy," Glenn said. "Straight down the main hall from the entrance. There's a staircase that goes up to the second floor and ladder access to the roof from there."

Daryl nodded.

"Now ya know where the fuck it is," Daryl said. "I mean it…them fences start ta go an' ya move ya asses. We'll figure out what the hell to do after that when everyone's on the damn roof."

Daryl realized there was really nothing else to say. Everyone was still looking at him, weapons in hand. Now all that was left to do was wait until the Walkers came and pray that everything went in their favor.

Daryl lingered another moment, finally realizing he still had a hold on the brunette's arm. He dropped his grip and glanced around at everyone, turning his head with a growl after his gaze settled on Carol whose face was set.

Daryl quickly stalked toward the entrance to the building to join the other three on the roof. The sound of everyone on the ground team shuffling about, choosing positions…waiting to see how many Walkers would come…was behind him.

"Hey Daryl," Glenn called. Daryl turned back and the kid smiled at him. "Good luck…" Glenn said, somewhat quietly. "Let's kill some Walkers."

Daryl grunted and slipped inside the building to go up and get prepared.

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Hershel called down to rally the ground squad when the first of the Walkers was visible on the horizon. They'd been waiting so long that nearly everyone was dozing, beginning to wonder if the herd had turned…if all this time they'd been trying to outrun something that really wasn't coming.

Even Daryl had started to let his guard down while Hershel was on watch, but the old man's whistle sent a jolt through him and he sprang up, rushing to the side of the roof beside Hershel and looking to see what was coming.

They were slow moving. Nothing had them stirred up at all. They were mindlessly shuffling along like garish cows or something of the sort. Daryl thought, from what he could see, that they'd lost a good number of the herd that he thought was following them. Somewhere, in all the twists and turns he'd tried to throw in for good measure on the roads they covered, they'd thrown at least part of the fuckers off. They weren't all following them anymore. They were still out there, you could guarantee that, but they weren't on their trail.

The sight of the smaller batch of Walkers than they'd anticipated made Daryl feel a little bit better about the plan. He glanced down below and could see that everyone had spread out like he'd told them too and everyone was standing ready with their weapons.

He turned his attention back toward the herd. They were slow moving across what flat span of land lie near the retirement home and Daryl watched them.

_They could handle this herd_. They could take these fuckers out. If no more came, hot on their tails from the sound of gunfire, that would mean that they weren't being pursued as adamantly anymore. They'd still have Walker threats, that never ended in this brand new world of shit that they lived in, but it meant that they didn't have to run with quite the same enthusiasm as before. It meant that they could focus on finding a place without wondering if it had the power to withstand the impact of maybe the thousand Walkers they had overestimated as following them.

If they could take these out and no more came behind them, then the half-baked plan might end up actually working and it might buy them a little bit more of a life in this hell on Earth.

Daryl saw that the herd, though headed in their general direction, hadn't seemed to smell them or whatever the fuck it was that Walkers did since they weren't heading directly for the retirement home, and that's what they needed them to do for this plan to work. He raised his gun, hoping everyone was ready, and fired a shot.

The shot drew the attention of the herd and it slowly turned in their direction. The ground crew must have taken the cue because they started raking their weapons across the bars below and yelling and yelping, each drawing the herd simultaneously toward the retirement home as a whole and toward their own little area specifically.

As the herd closed in on them, Rick announced to Daryl and Hershel to wait to fire. They each took a section of the roof to keep watch and offer cover the folks below. Daryl didn't say anything, but he made sure to take the portion of the roof where he could most easily offer cover to Carol. He wanted to be sure that someone was watching out for her if things got out of hand on her end and he didn't trust Rick or Hershel not to doze on the job.

Daryl waited and watched as the Walkers finally reached the fences. There was a frenzy down below and he tried hard to keep his attention focused on Carol, though his eyes did dart from time to time to the others to see how they were holding up.

Up on the roof Daryl imagined that everyone's ears were ringing with the sound of gunfire like his were. They were doing their best to keep their area covered and to pick off the Walkers as they walked up, threatening the fighters on the ground.

In reality, they had the easy part. Daryl felt himself growing quite impressed as he watched Carol. He knew she had to be exhausted. The stream of Walkers that was coming at them didn't seem to end and he knew it had to seem even more impossible to those who were locked in the constant bobbing and weaving they'd all adopted. Still, if she was exhausted, she wasn't showing it much. She continued in the elaborate dance that seemed to be working for all of them and Daryl watched as she slammed the machete she was using time and time again into the head of one Walker after another.

The fences were holding, though, and the Walkers were going down. There were still more to go, but they were at least going down.

Daryl was picking off Walkers as quickly as he could around Carol's area. He was trying to slow down the flood of them as they came at her. From where he stood too he was supposed to be at least half ass covering the other woman, so from time to time he offered a few bullets in her direction.

She seemed to be holding her own about as well as Carol was, except once Daryl saw her falter and thought she might be a goner. She'd screamed, drawing his attention, just in time to realize that she hadn't bobbed and weaved quickly enough and Walker had gotten ahold of the shirt she was wearing. He wondered if it would have time to drag her back…bite her or at least scratch her…but she'd come out of her clothes like a kid on the playground and immediately stabbed the very same Walker, making Daryl chuckle a little at the act before tossing her a little friendly cover fire and turning his attention back to Carol and her plight.

When Daryl ran out of ammunition he rushed back to the bags in the center of the roof. The guns that Rick and Hershel had at the beginning had run out earlier and it appeared that they were using the last of the weapons they'd brought that had ammo left. Daryl took that as his cue to hit the ground and try to help down there, so he quickly descended to ground level and jumped in where he could, a few feet from Carol, and began stabbing Walkers with a knife through the bars.

Daryl didn't know how long they'd been fighting, but he felt his muscles screaming. He could only imagine what those who had been down here since the beginning must feel like. Only once in a while did he dare to glance around and let his eyes fall on the two women, the only two people he had a clear view of. They were slower than they once were…but they were hanging in there…and their fatigue only made Daryl wish more to see the end of the Walkers that were coming. He yelled a little more, trying to draw the ones away from them that were coming in their direction…trying to buy them some time to rest.

The fire from above ceased and Daryl reasoned that Rick and Hershel had either run out of ammunition or had simply decided with what was left their efforts were best used on the ground. He held to the hope that they were simply helping to pick off what was left and the end was in sight.

Finally, after what almost seemed like the passing of months or years, the Walkers stopped coming. Daryl stabbed, in quick succession, the final three that he could see and dared to take a few steps in the direction of Carol and Alice…in the direction of the others. He leaned toward the bars as he went, stabbing the straggling Walkers that remained.

And one by one everyone realized that they had done the impossible…the unthinkable. They'd taken out the herd that had come for them. They started appearing, slowly, unsure, from around the side of the building where they'd been fighting.

Daryl himself didn't want to believe it. He'd never have believe it if he'd been told just a few days ago that this would have happened. He was breathing hard and now that the excitement was dying down he felt like his heart might be ready to literally explode in his chest from the marathon they'd essentially run that day.

As he reached Carol, who was literally dripping in sweat and Walker muck, he grabbed her into a hug without thinking about it, wrapping his arms hard around her and pulling her to him.

The act had almost been involuntary and it caught Daryl by surprise as soon as his brain started to process that he was holding her tight against his body and she was squeezing back, panting and shaking from tired muscles.

Admittedly he'd never hugged her before…not like this. He'd had her arms around him on the bike. A few times he'd wrapped an arm around her shoulder in camaraderie like he'd done with the rest, but he'd never hugged her before like this. He wasn't sure, short of his mother, he could remember ever having genuinely hugged anyone…and he wasn't even sure he remembered the embrace being so strong with his mother.

Daryl broke away from the hug as soon as brain processed what he'd done without thinking. He grew immediately embarrassed and worried. He truly hadn't meant to do it. It was something that had happened out of the pure excitement of the moment. Others were hugging, but he wasn't like that. He didn't touch as freely as they did, and now he feared he'd crossed some kind of line with Carol.

She'd hugged him back, but she was that kind. She was the hugging kind. She'd only later think about it and realize that he'd hugged her and maybe feel that he shouldn't have done it.

As soon as Daryl broke away, embarrassed and hoping that no one had seen, he turned immediately and headed toward the building, meaning to go up on the roof and collect the guns….meaning to go up on the roof and collect himself.

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Carol was the most exhausted she'd ever been in her life when they piled into the vehicles. They were all exhausted. They were filthy, they were sweaty, they smelled bad enough that they were all fighting the urge to vomit over their own stench…but they were alive.

She didn't know how many Walkers they'd killed. Even from the bodies piled up that they gazed at as they victoriously and unbelievably got back in the vehicles, she wouldn't have ventured a guess. It was more than she would have ever imagined they could have killed though…more than she might have even dreamed. The fences had held strong, keeping the Walkers back far enough and long enough for them to pick them off.

They were exhausted, but they had done it.

For as exhausted as she was, Carol was also exhilarated. She felt proud of herself, and that was a feeling that she wasn't used to having. She couldn't even remember the last time that she'd genuinely felt proud of herself, but now she did. She'd done something. She'd helped the group. She'd been just as important out there as everyone else. There weren't enough of them for anyone to be a hero.

And Daryl had hugged her. He'd bear hugged her even. She'd been so shocked by the action that it had taken her more than a moment to respond. She'd never been hugged by him before. Even in the moment, swept up on the wings of the glory that was their victory over the herd that had been haunting their dreams since they left the farm, Carol had been overwhelmed at the thought of Daryl hugging her, pulling her against him and pressing back against her.

She might, in all the grandeur of the day, have let it go to her head, but she could see it was a mistake. In the excitement of the moment he'd offered her a hug as a friend, and he'd not meant for it to be quite the tight embrace that it had become. He'd pulled away, almost as suddenly as he'd come to her, and he'd been quiet since.

He'd said a few things with the others, everyone had congratulated each other, but for the most part he hadn't spoken to her…not really…since the whole thing had happened. He'd briefly, and without really looking at her, told her she did good out there, but that was it.

When they'd made it back to the barn, Carol had gone with Alice to the creek to wash. The men had gone in the opposite direction, farther down, to do the same thing. They were all quiet, though. Even Alice seemed too exhausted to talk, and Carol hadn't pushed it.

She'd made her way back to the barn with Alice after they were as clean as creek water and a cake of soap would get them. They'd all left their beds there, just the same as they were the night before, and Carol wondered if Daryl regretted the hug badly enough that he would move his pallet away from hers.

She'd eaten her canned food with less gusto than the rest, worried that Daryl was going to pull away farther. Even Daryl's low key praise for her actions that day and the praise of the others wasn't enough to lift her spirits as the evening wore on. She excused her sullen mood to the group with exhaustion and thankfully no one questioned it.

She understood that the hug had been a mistake. She understood that Daryl didn't think of her in any way other than a friend, and she understood that he didn't want her to get any kind of wrong idea from the hug and think he wanted any more physical contact with her than just that riding behind him on the bike necessitated. She understood all of that. She only hoped that he knew she understood it and that he wouldn't decide to put distance between them to make sure she got the message.

She decided, as she excused herself and went to her pallet, that if Daryl did try to pull away more…if he didn't wake up as ready to overlook the event as she had, she'd have to tell him that she understood he meant nothing by it and she expected nothing from him.

She was more than willing to live the rest of her life just having Daryl Dixon as a friend, since that was the best that she could hope, but she wasn't willing to give up that friendship for something as stupid as him worrying that she actually expected more.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Just a little something here…somewhat of a transition chapter as we're preparing to move on down the line and go in search of the place we'll be staying for a while.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think! **

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When Carol woke up, the first thing that she became aware of was the fact that it was still very dark in the barn. She was accustomed to being up long before the others. Even when they kept the early mornings that their travels had necessitated, Carol was always one of the first, if not the very first awake.

Shortly after determining that the hour was early and everyone else was either still asleep or lying quietly in their hay padded beds in the barn, Carol became aware that she was sore. She was sore all the way to the core. Everything hurt and ached. She was almost afraid to move just because she didn't want to fully realize how deep the pain ran. Her muscles weren't accustomed to the acts that they'd performed the day before. She doubted if anyone's were.

And then came the realization that Daryl hadn't moved his pallet away. As she woke up, taking in the somewhat musty smell of the barn and the prickly touch of the hay poking up through her blanket, she also realized that Daryl was lying close to her, his breathing still marked by sleep.

He was very close to her…on top of her almost…and Carol blushed as she realized, in the darkness of the barn, exactly what it was that she was feeling pressed against her back.

Carol turned her head ever so slightly, rubbing her cheek a little into the blanket that she was lying on. She closed her eyes a minute and fought with herself. Daryl was her friend…and he was sleeping pressed against her…and he'd be embarrassed if he even woke to find that he was pressing into her. It was natural, of course. She knew it was a normal occurrence, something he couldn't even help.

And she felt bad at herself for thinking about it once she'd realized what the feeling was. He was asleep…and in his sleep he couldn't help his arousal…and she was thinking about him now. She was ashamed at herself.

She tried to excuse herself, saying that even though she knew he didn't think of her that way, even though she knew that he'd be mortified if he was aware of the situation, she hadn't made things happen this way. And thinking about him was only normal in this position. Any woman in her position right now would at least let their mind flit, momentarily if nothing else, to the thought of him.

The truth of the matter, when Carol was actually honest with herself and when she wasn't trying to fool herself into believing the lies she made up, was that she was more attracted to Daryl than she'd ever been to any man in her life. He was handsome and he was rugged and his muscles were well defined. The man was a dream for any woman.

And as though the package wasn't good enough, he was a kind man…though he wouldn't want to hear anyone say it. Daryl had a rough exterior…something that he put on to protect himself from the world, and Carl understood the need to protect yourself. But it was really just something that he put on, a façade that he'd perfected over the years. Underneath it all was a man with the kindest heart that Carol knew. He was a man who had never treated her badly, not really, and he was a man willing to risk his life for a little girl he didn't even really know.

And she knew she loved him. She tried to tell herself that she loved him as a friend…as a fellow survivor in a world gone to hell…as another of the loners with no one else to call their own. But it was so much more than that. It was so much more, in fact, that it made her ache just to even think about it, so it was so much better to hide behind the lies she told herself.

Right now here evil mind was trying to get her into trouble. It was daring to go to places that she didn't want to go. There was no need to torture herself. But she wasn't dead and she couldn't help it.

Sex for Carol had always been something that she didn't care for much. She'd only ever been with Ed and he'd been less than a desirable partner most of the time. She'd had one true girlfriend in her life…the only one that had stuck with her when she'd married Ed and he'd started to become the monster he really was. Marie had been her best friend…her only friend…for several years, but eventually Ed succeeded in driving her away as well, as was his plan.

But Marie had told her all these wonderful things about sex. She'd painted the act into almost being something magical or mystical. She'd told Carol about everything that she'd done…and Marie was a good bit more adventurous than Carol ever dared to think she might be. Carol had heard about all those things from Marie, but she'd never experienced them.

Marie had, as somewhat of a joke, bought Carol a vibrator for a birthday gift one year. A blue plastic vibrator that had embarrassed the hell out of Carol even though Marie had made sure she opened it in private. Carol had gone home and immediately hidden the thing. Ed would have killed her if he'd have found it and she knew that. Marie had taunted her about the thing, though, insisting that she should try it. If Ed wasn't man enough, she'd said, to do the things to her that he should…then she shouldn't feel shame in taking care of herself.

She'd only tried the damn thing twice, and even though she might have enjoyed it, she wasn't ever able to. She was never able to get past the feeling that somehow Ed would find out…he'd figure it out and he'd be as angry as he got whenever she showed any interest at all in anything that he did to her.

No, sex had never meant much to Carol…but she'd always wondered about the things that Marie talked about and about all the things that she read about in books. She wondered what it would be like to experience them…and now she almost had to shake herself to stop from wondering what it would be like to experience them with someone like Daryl.

Daryl moved into his sleep, moving tighter against her, and Carol gasped a little before she realized the sound escaped her mouth. She froze because Daryl woke, somewhat a moment later. She stayed still, her eyes closed, trying to keep her breathing steady, feigning sleep. She didn't want him to know she'd been awake and didn't want him to know that she was aware of his situation.

She stayed stiffly frozen until she felt him shift and a few moments later he finally got up, shuffling across the barn floor in the darkness. She remained in her position until after she heard the creaking of the barn door and then finally she let herself sit up, her cheeks burning red hot at what she'd been thinking about. She was grateful that the space was dark. Even if someone woke up and saw her stirring, they wouldn't have any idea of how guilty she was.

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They'd loaded the vehicles not long after Daryl came back in the barn. They agreed to eat from cans on the road. Daryl had made the point that if the gunfire from the night before had attracted any Walkers, they needed to move on before they reached the area and picked up their scent, essentially following them to their safe house and perhaps recreating the problem they'd tried to solve. The distance between them, at least, would maybe guarantee that any Walkers that made it that far simply wandered off…not knowing where to go to find their food.

Once everything was loaded up, they piled into the vehicles and headed out. A day's drive would put them back with Lori, Carl, Beth, and Maggie, and from there they would move on. Finally, perhaps, they could begin seriously looking for somewhere to call home…somewhere to at least settle down for a bit.

Daryl was quiet, but Carol couldn't really tell if it had to do with the hug from the day before or if he was merely focused on the task at hand. Daryl had a tendency to get quiet when he got focused, so you weren't always sure what to blame his moods on.

When their tiny caravan of two vehicles was on the move, Daryl leading the way back, Carol took the can opener and the three cans of label less food they had, everyone in the other car having already opened theirs and she started to open the cans to see what prizes they'd won out of the grab bag of gourmet cuisine.

"Any specific breakfast orders?" She asked to Daryl and Alice who were sharing the truck with her.

"I just hope to fuck it isn't corn…" Alice said. "The last two days that's the only damn thing I've drawn out of the fucking cans. I like corn just as much as the next person but I'd eat fucking spinach for a break right now and sing about being Popeye the Sailor Man."

Carol snickered.

"What do you want, Daryl?" Carol asked.

Daryl glanced over at her.

"Ya ain't even opened the fuckin' cans yet. How'm I s'posed ta know what I want?" Daryl said.

"We're just teasing before we open them," Carol said. "It's more fun if you pretend like it's exciting or something."

Daryl grunted a little and Carol sighed, she opened the first of the cans and handed it to Alice who carefully pulled back the lid while Carol was cranking open the next one.

"Curtain number one…pinto beans," Alice said.

Carol passed her the second one and Alice stuck the first can between her legs before peeling back the metal top on the second.

"Curtain number two…lima beans…yummy," Alice said. "I don't know what the hell's behind curtain number three, but I vote we go ahead and roll the fucking windows down now and get ahead of the game."

Carol laughed at her, not able to control it. Even though the joke was juvenile perhaps, it was something that was on everyone's mind whether they wanted to admit it or not.

Carol cranked open the third can and dropped the can opener in the foot. She peeled back the top.

"Woo hoo!" Carol cheered, guarding the can from Alice.

"The fuck did you get?" Alice asked. "I've got some beans to trade…"

Carol laughed and showed her the can.

"It's corn," Carol said. "I don't care. I'll eat the corn. What do you want, Daryl? Lima beans, pinto beans, or corn?"

Daryl glanced over at her again, his lip curled.

"If those are my fuckin' choices, I reckon I want the pinto beans," Daryl said. "I'll be glad ta eat some fuckin' decent food. First damn place we get a chance to build a fuckin' fire ya better make one a' them stews. I'll hunt us up some damn meat."

Carol passed him the can which he balanced in his lab, feeding himself with one of the oversized spoons she'd brought with them. She took the corn and passed Alice a utensil to dine on the lima beans. Alice reached over and rolled the window down a little further than the crack they already had it at.

Daryl snickered and rolled his own window down.

At least Carol was feeling better now. It was better to have a joke…no matter how childish it was…filling the air of the truck than it was to have the heaviness that she worried would come from the events of the day before. She was hoping that Daryl had let go of the hug and that he wasn't going to worry about her misinterpreting it.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11

Somewhere just around when the sun was sinking low, Daryl glanced over at his riding partners. Alice was passed out, dead to the world. She was awkwardly slumped, in a pretzel position between the window and Carol. It was clear that she'd begun her intended nap with her head on Carol's shoulder, but it was very nearly in the woman's lap by now.

Carol appeared to be sleeping too, but far less profoundly than the woman beside her. Her head was tipped to the side, but she hadn't gone into the full land of no longer caring if she even remained upright.

Daryl had been trying all day to gauge Carol's reactions from the hug the day before. He'd woken up this morning from a particularly embarrassing dream that he could only blame on the hug and he'd wanted to die when he realized he was pressed close against her and he had a raging hard on. That hadn't been exactly how he hoped to wake up…not lying next to his best friend. He hadn't even meant, during the night, to somehow move mostly off of his own pallet and onto hers.

Thank goodness, though, she'd been asleep when Daryl had woken up and was likely unaware of his condition. He'd taken a few moments to will his little friend into submission and he'd excused himself as quickly as possible outside, seeking refuge behind some bushes to act like a fucking teenager and rub one out…trying to get the damn image from his dream out of his head.

In his dream…or at least what the hell he could remember of it…he'd started out with hugging Carol just like they had in the heat of the damn moment. Except somehow it had gone from them being in the damn yard of a retirement home to being in some damn place in the woods. And somewhere along the fucking line they'd lost their clothes, though Daryl hadn't had a damn clue how that had happened.

But in the dream Carol didn't seem to mind and she didn't seem to realize that Dixon men weren't the kind of men that good women fooled around with. She'd just been there…doing everything he wanted her to before he even knew he wanted her to do it. She'd been so soft and so sweet and so unlike anything that Daryl could even wrap his mind around and it had driven him crazy.

Daryl cleared his throat quietly, feeling himself start to grow aroused at just the thought of the dream again. He was one sick fuck to think of his friend that way. Women like Carol…they didn't fuck with Dixon men…not figuratively and not literally.

And Carol looked at him as a friend. She looked at him as someone that helped take care of her, someone who hung around her and had been with her when Sophia was lost, and someone who had saved her ass that night on the farm. She'd probably be disgusted and horrified to know that Daryl was dreaming about her being buck ass naked in the woods some damn where with her magically disappearing clothes doing whatever the fuck his sick imagination could come up with for her to do.

"Any idea how far we are?" Carol's voice asked softly. Daryl jumped at the sound of it. He hadn't meant to get caught even remembering the dream.

Daryl bit at his thumb nervously, trying to disguise what he'd been thinking about in case she could somehow read his thoughts in the dying light of the truck cab.

"Not too damn far," Daryl responded. "Thought'cha was asleep like fuckin' Sleepin' Beauty there."

Carol chuckled.

"I was dozing a little," she said. "I don't think I've ever slept as good in a car as she's sleeping right now. She must have been exhausted from yesterday."

Daryl glanced over and Carol was sitting there, Alice's head having finally slid down into her lap. She adjusted herself a little he saw her push the woman's hair out of her face.

No matter how much work they did, and Carol did most of the day in and day out shit, Carol's hands always looked soft and Daryl thought her fingers were tiny…at least in comparison to his own. He glanced back at the empty road, pretending there was anything there to be concerned about.

"Least we killed all them fuckin' Walkers," Daryl said. "Reckon everybody's got a damn right ta be beat."

"Yeah," Carol said softly. "I can't really believe we did it."

Daryl shifted around a little in his seat. His ass was going to sleep. They'd hardly stopped at all on the ride. Everyone had sort of silently agreed to suffer through the day in the vehicles and they'd only stopped once to go to the bathroom and siphon off some gas from a couple of cars that they hadn't already checked out that were abandoned on the side of the road.

"Ya did damn good out there," Daryl said.

"Thank you," Carol said. "You did good too…but then you always do."

Daryl felt his cheeks burn. He hated compliments. He really did. He almost found insult simply easier to take. He didn't know how to respond to compliments, so the most he ever really did was grunt a little in response.

"Do you think we'll find somewhere to stay soon?" Carol asked.

Daryl grunted again and chewed for a second at the piece of skin he'd begun gnawing loose earlier at his cuticle.

"Don't know," he said. "Reckon we gotta find some damn thing. Rick's gonna go outta his fuckin' mind if we don't get Lori put up some place 'til Lil' Shane gets here."

Carol swatted gently at his leg.

"Don't be mean, Daryl!" She said. "We don't know the baby's Shane's."

Daryl chuckled, glancing in her direction but finding it mostly too dark to see much of her except for her silhouette. It wasn't dark outside yet, not really, but the cab was too dark to see with any great detail.

"Don't know it fuckin' ain't," Daryl said. "If I got my bets 'tween the horse that's been doin' practice laps or one that ain't hardly been out the fuckin' stable, I'm puttin' my bets on the one that's been runnin'."

Carol smacked him again and he chuckled once more, finally seeing the house and pulling the truck gently off the road, letting it roll across what once was the yard of the place.

Daryl glanced at the house and those who had been there waiting on them spilled out the door. They were probably surprised to see any of them back at all and Daryl thought they'd probably piss their pants when they realized that they were all back.

He glanced over again at Carol.

"Oughta leave her fuckin' ass in here. See what the hell happens when she wakes up alone in the fuckin' truck…" Daryl said. He laughed at his own thought. "I'd tell the rest of 'em she fuckin' ate it while we was fightin' them Walkers, but then they'd prob'ly shoot her ass if she come in durin' the night."

Carol giggled.

"We're not leaving her in the truck," Carol said.

Daryl watched a second as Carol started gently shaking the woman awake. Carol was always sweet and gentle with shit…even waking someone up. Daryl had her wake him up a time or two and it was always the same thing. She'd shake your shoulder gently until you finally woke up.

For a moment Daryl felt the heat of embarrassment flood back over him as he thought of his dream from the night before. He was glad, though, that Carol didn't seem pissed about the hug from the day before. She'd surely be pissed as hell about the dream, but she'd overlooked the hug.

Daryl pushed his door open and dropped out of the cab of the truck. He couldn't resist the urge to do it, so he reached over Carol's lap and popped the brunette in the back of the head before Carol could say anything. She shot up, obviously disoriented, and tried to come out of her stupor.

"Rise an' shine!" Daryl called, slamming his door and nodding his head in the direction of the people on the porch who were already waiting for Glenn, Rick, and Hershel…all of which had spilled out of the car that pulled up behind him…

Daryl doubted they even saw him as he headed directly to the area behind the house to relieve himself. They didn't give a fuck if he was back or not…not really…Rick, Glenn, and Hershel had been the only ones that really fucking mattered to any of them that stayed behind.

Still, as he ducked behind the house and groaned a little at the relief his bladder had been screaming for fucking ever, he thought that he was pleased they were back…all of them. Even if no one else gave a flying fuck, Daryl was glad he hadn't lost any damn body out there. Now they could move the fuck on and see what the hell this shit show of life had in store without a giant ass herd of Walkers hot on their asses.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: A little update here with a bit of a time jump. Sort of a filler chapter working a little with character development. We're moving forward, though. Maybe I'll get another little something out for you tomorrow.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter, even though it's filler/development and not super exciting. Let me know what you think! **

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They were staying in an old construction building or office of some type and Carol had negotiated an extra night's stay just so they could wash the dirty clothes that were beginning to make them all smell like rancid Walkers, so she'd employed Alice and Lori's help to wash the clothes while Beth entertained Carl, Maggie and Glenn disappeared off somewhere under the pretense of looking for supplies, and the others discussed strategy and what was to come.

There was working water in the dirty old building and it was good enough for washing clothes, though drinking it might have been a poor decision on anyone's part. Carol scrubbed the clothes out in the sink while Lori hung them up on wires they'd rigged for drying and Alice traipsed back and forth finding more and more of the dirty things that people had stuck here and there in their bags.

"So when do you think we're actually going to find a place to stop?" Lori asked Carol.

Carol knew that Lori was getting anxious and she couldn't say she blamed her entirely. She was easily seven months pregnant if she was a day and the life they were living certainly wasn't an easy one for that.

Since their fight against the herd that had been trailing them from the farm, life had been a little easier. They moved daily but didn't feel the need to make the time between dawn and dusk count for so much. They stopped earlier more often than not and thanks to a raid they'd made on a couple of guns and ammo stores and one armory they had enough ammunition that Rick and Daryl had been doing target practice with Carol and Alice especially.

Lori got herself excused from target practice, not wanting to risk any problems with kickback from the gun or added stress and strain, Maggie and Beth joined them from time to time but for the most part Maggie was good with a gun and Beth seemed uninterested in learning, and sometimes Lori let Carl join them.

Carol and Alice, though, both took full advantage of the gun training. Carol was beginning to think of herself as a pretty good shot, and though Alice wasn't Annie Oakley by any means, she now joked that at least she had a better chance at hitting a Walker with a bullet than she had by simply killing it by chunking the gun at its head.

Along the way they'd found a few places where they'd stayed for up to two nights, like the current construction building they were housed in, but they hadn't found anything that seemed like it could be permanent. They'd looked at places, mostly from a distance so as to not put effort into cleaning out a place that they would later just up and leave, but nothing seemed secure enough to really consider hunkering down there.

"I'm sure we'll find something soon. They're looking…we all are…we'll know it when we find it," Carol said. "Just try not to worry about it."

Lori scoffed as she took more of the dripping clothes that Carol had wrung out and put on the worktable near her to wait for drying.

"That's easier said than done," Lori said. "If it weren't for the baby I'd say let's keep going, but that's not really the way I feel about it right now."

"I get that," Carol said. "But we're looking and we'll find something as soon as we can."

Alice came through the door and dropped some clothes on the floor on top of the pile that was already there.

"That looks like the last of it," Alice said. "If anyone else has anything that's dirty it's stuck up their ass and I'm not doing cavity searches."

Carol looked at the pile.

"I think that's fine," she said. "At least we'll have some clean things and for a few days we won't smell terrible."

"So what's up? I'm reporting for duty," Alice said.

Carol wiped at her forehead with her wrist.

"Do you think you could run out and find us a place to stay?" Carol asked.

Alice looked at her a moment like she'd sprouted another head and then Carol smiled to clue her in that she was joking. Alice smiled back and shook her head.

"Sorry…I'd whip us up something but the batteries are dead in the magic wand," Alice said. "This place is charming for the night, though…don't you think?"

"We need something for longer than a night," Lori said. "How many months can it really take to find somewhere to stay? We've been running forever and I can't believe that there's just nothing."

Alice leaned a moment against the wall, peering around Carol at Lori. Carol knew the two women didn't get along well. They hadn't actually fought with one another, but the tension was high and Carol wasn't entirely sure why. She knew that Alice had offered to be Lori's doctor and that Lori had graciously declined, preferring Hershel to make sure everything was going along as planned with the pregnancy. Other than that one incident she wasn't aware of anything specific, but the two rarely engaged in conversation.

"Where did you want to stay?" Alice asked. "Was it the Four Seasons or the Beverly Wilshire that got your attention? No damn where we've seen has been safe enough to hold up for a fucking week, and that's if we were lucky."

"What about this place?" Lori asked. "It's fenced in…it's big enough."

Alice shrugged, but Lori wasn't looking at her.

"Sure, it's plenty big," Alice said. "If you don't mind sleeping on top of each other for however long you plan to stay here. And it's fenced in, you're right. Those chain link fences out there are fucking awesome. A kindergarten kid with a temper tantrum could knock them down, but I'm sure I'd they'd hold against a good hundred of those damn zombie things…no sweat."

"Running constantly from one place to the next, worrying about finding gas and food every day, practically living in our cars," Lori said. "You're right. It's a much better option."

"At least we're alive," Alice said. "There have been a lot of people who can't say the same damn thing…and running from place to place in a car beats the hell out of running on foot."

Alice turned quickly toward Carol then, a look of annoyance on her face.

"I'm going to start up some dinner," she said. "Holler if you need something."

Carol nodded at Alice and the woman trotted out of the room and toward the fenced in area outside where they'd built the fire the night before to cook. Carol didn't mind if she cooked, at least that gave her a break from doing some of the chores around there.

Lori growled a little, obviously annoyed.

"I don't know why you even put up with her," Lori said.

"She doesn't bother me," Carol said.

The truth was that as they continued travelling Carol had come to be quite fond of Alice's company. She preferred it, in all actuality, to Lori's. Life wasn't perfect, but Alice didn't seem to dwell on that too much. She had her beliefs about it all, and Carol knew that Alice painted herself as a pessimist, but in reality she was one of the most optimistic of the group…or either she was just very much a go with the flow kind of individual.

Of course a lot of that probably had to do with her time before they'd found her. Carol didn't know all the details, but more or less she knew that the group that Alice had been with hadn't really known anything about surviving. They'd lives as the truest forms of scavengers they could possibly live as and they'd done all their travelling and running on foot, only stopping and sleeping when they could find a place they trusted enough to keep them safe for a few hours.

She supposed it might have been a pretty stark difference from their own journey in the past months.

"Really, Carol? She's a total bitch," Lori said. "She's always got some smart ass remark for everything. I'm not trying to be difficult, but I don't exactly relish the idea of giving birth on the side of the road worrying about the fact that any noise I make could bring a herd of Walkers down on top of us to tear us all to pieces."

"I understand," Carol said. "I know you're anxious, but really there's nothing that any of us can say except we'll find something…and we will…maybe even tomorrow. I know you're terrified, but we're going to find something."

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You'd know that Walkers, if you spent any time observing them at all, were pack animals…or something akin to it. They travelled alone a good deal, but they seemed to prefer to be bunched together. At any rate, if one was alone and another encountered it, they seemed drawn to one another, quickly pulling together.

Daryl thought that maybe the truth was that people were the same way. They were certainly travelling in a pack now. Maybe the same damn thing happened when you were a Walker. Maybe it was one of the only damn instincts that remained intact. You'd be fine flying solo for a while, but it always seemed that you ended up stuck up under someone at some point.

Of course, the herding nature of Walkers was more troublesome to them than the herding nature of people. Their pack of people kept them all from getting their asses chewed on…while the packs of Walkers were the would be chewers.

The place they were at was fine for the night. The chain link fences could keep back a small handful of Walkers at one time…more if they were spread out…but if they drew together the fences wouldn't hold off over a dozen.

So the only way to keep the fuckers from coming into the area and plowing the fencing system down for a little snack was to keep someone circling the whole night, stabbing any of the nasty assholes that dared to peer over the fence and see what they had going on in there.

Daryl didn't much trust the others on night watch. He wouldn't have let Carol be out there alone in the first damn place. Too many of them got bunched together before you made a round and you'd be the first to go. He'd rather be out there than think of her meeting that fate. He didn't really like the idea of the other chick, Alice, getting gnawed to pieces either. She was an asshole of the first degree when she wanted to be, but Daryl didn't really mind her company too much when it came down to it. Lori and Beth wouldn't even be able to handle clearing the fences quickly enough since there'd been more than a handful out tonight. Glenn and Maggie would be too busy fucking in some dark corner somewhere to even tell everyone they were about to be torn to pieces. Rick was too fucked up over Lori and his worry about the whole damn thing to focus on a task like this for too long, and Daryl thought Hershel was simply better off sleeping through the night. T-Dog might have been OK to run the fences all night, but Daryl would rather be out there himself. He trusted himself more than anyone else.

"Hey!" Daryl turned when he heard the voice of Alice cut through the silence around him.

"Fuck ya want, s'posed ta be sleepin'. We leave with the sun in the mornin'," Daryl said.

"I know that," Alice said. "So why don't you take your stupid ass to bed? I've got this shit."

As if to demonstrate her point, Alice leaned over the fence and stabbed a Walker that was nearby and showing some interest in them.

"I ain't leavin' ya ass out here," Daryl said. "Ya'd probably get mauled in half a damn hour. Go the fuck back inside with everyone else."

Alice chuckled.

"Yeah…" she said. "I've done a jam up job so far getting my ass mauled. Go inside, Daryl. I'm serious. T isn't going to give two fucks if I sleep all damn day in the truck tomorrow. He'll probably even be glad that you save him from the entire works of the Beatles that I promised I'd sing him on the ride. You've got to drive, though, and you don't want to fall asleep and kill yourself and Carol."

"I'll be just fuckin' fine," Daryl said. "Ain't the first damn time I been awake through the night."

Daryl continued on and thought the brunette would turn around and go inside, but she stayed right behind him, following along, reaching out to stab at whatever Walkers they saw just in the moment that he moved in for them.

"Why the fuck ya botherin' me?" Daryl asked finally. "I told ya that I'm fine an' I ain't leavin' ya ass so it don't make sense for both a' us ta be awake."

"Is this some of your sexist macho shit?" Alice asked. "You're women can't do anything bullshit?"

Daryl turned a little and looked at her over his shoulder as he continued his pacing around the perimeter. He didn't mind Alice. She did whatever the hell anyone asked her to do and she rarely complained about anything with any sincerity. She just sort of tagged along with the group. He didn't know much about her, though. He knew the basics of her story and she was all about fucking girl power and some shit like that and she stayed glued to Carol damn near any time they were cooking or doing laundry or whatever the hell else.

"What the fuck ya got against men anyway?" Daryl asked.

"Not one damn thing," Alice said. "I happen to like men. I don't care much for people…male or female…though that doubt that women can do any damn thing that men can do. Call it a character flaw if you will."

Daryl snickered.

"Whatever…this ain't 'bout'cha fuckin' anatomy…OK? I wouldn't want no damn body else out here, dick or not, 'cept me. These fences ain't gon' hold for shit if a lotta these fuckers come chargin' through," Daryl said.

"I know," Alice said. "That's why the hell I'm out here and it's why the hell I'm not going to take my happy ass back inside. If you won't go in, fine, but I'll stay."

"Suit ya fuckin' self then," Daryl said.

"You know that Lori actually wanted to talk about why we weren't going to stay here?" Alice asked.

Daryl scoffed again. He wasn't surprised by that shit in the least.

"We might stay here," he said, "but we wouldn't fuckin' live for a week 'fore these fuckers come in an' eat us all in our damn sleep."

"I know that too," Alice said.

She was quiet a few minutes before she spoke again.

"If you could pick the perfect place and it just appeared around here, where the hell would you choose for us to stay?" Alice asked.

Daryl had thought about it a hundred times over. He wasn't very creative with this shit, but the best damn place he could come up with was a military base.

"Fuckin' base," he said. He yawned in spite of himself. "Damn thing's 'bout as safe as it's gonna fuckin' get."

Alice grunted.

"Good choice, actually," Alice said. "Don't think I could come up with a better place. It'd be better if whatever we can find has some kind of medical facility. I could set up there…handle whatever the hell we need. Right now the most that has to be done is delivering the baby, though, and that shouldn't be such a big damn deal."

"Why don't'cha tell Rick's ass that?" Daryl asked. He suddenly felt like some kind of hen pecking around and gossiping with the woman following behind him. He didn't know why he was doing it, but it seemed like there really wasn't anything better to do and she obviously wasn't going inside and getting out of his hair.

"Would it do any good?" Alice asked. "I don't know the story there, but I know there's a story. I haven't asked Carol anything about it. Rick's jumpy, though…and Lori's bitchy and distant. They're supposed to be married…I know that much…and if they're married they're giving off some pretty clear signals that they don't care too damn much for each other."

"I don't reckon it'd do a damn bit a' good," Daryl said. Honestly he didn't think it would. Rick was beating himself up over all kinds of shit that really wasn't even his fault. He still felt like he owed it to Lori, though, to take care of her ass…and Daryl guessed that if he were in Rick's shoes he might feel the same.

"Are you going to tell me what the fuck happened between them? Or were they on the rocks when you met them?" Alice asked.

Daryl chuckled.

"I ain't no old woman," Daryl said. "Don't want to run around gossipin' with ya ass. Long damn story short she fucked his best friend an' they both went fuckin' nuts over a piece a' damn pussy…that's what the hell happened. Now she's knocked up an' if ya had nuts ya could bet the kid ain't Rick's. Do with that what the fuck ya will."

"Mmm…" Alice said behind him. "Pussy…yep…that's enough to do it. I'm pretty sure it's been driving people crazy for years. Probably some cave paintings or something somewhere depicting how we thought the ice age killed the dinosaurs, but really it was all caused by a fight over pussy."

"Now ya bein' an asshole an' you was the one wanted ta know what fuckin' happened," Daryl said.

Alice laughed.

"Well, to tell the truth I figured it was something like that. And I am being an asshole, but I'm being at least a little honest. I know it's gotten me into some shit before," Alice said. "I can't say I see the appeal with Lori, though."

Daryl laughed then louder than he'd meant to and he knew they'd pay for it in a few minutes with the possible coming of at least a couple of Walkers from the woods nearby.

"What?" Alice asked. "I'm serious…not my type."

"Good damn thing," Daryl said. "Not my type neither an' I'm fuckin' pleased as punch about it. Last fuckin' thing we need is Lori causin' more shit in this group."

"I take it you don't get along?" Alice asked.

Daryl grunted. He didn't want to come right out and say it in no uncertain terms, but he didn't really try to sugarcoat his dislike of Lori either. He'd let her know a time or two that she wasn't his favorite person in the world…and she'd let him know in her own way that she felt the same…but he tried to keep the peace as best he could.

"So what is your type?" Alice asked. "Since Lori obviously isn't…did you have someone before the zombie apocalypse or what?"

"You a damn nosy bitch, ain't'cha?" Daryl asked.

"Mmm…character flaw," Alice said.

"Got a lotta those," Daryl said.

"That I do," Alice said. "I collect them…some people like baseball cards, but I think my collection makes life a lot more entertaining…So? What's your story?"

Daryl growled a little. He didn't really want to talk about this shit, but it appeared she wasn't going to let up.

"Ain't got a fuckin' story for ya. Ain't my thing. I ain't made for that shit," Daryl said.

"For what shit?" Alice asked. "For women? Are you gay?"

For a moment Daryl thought she might be trying to be an asshole, but then it slowly dawned on him that she probably wasn't the kind that considered that to be an insult like his brother did when he used it on him time and time again because he didn't run around fucking women like it was going out of style.

"Not fuckin' gay," Daryl said. "Just don't do relationships."

"I hear that," Alice said. "Dangerous things…you could get cooties."

Daryl snickered and shook his head.

"Bitch," he said.

"You have no idea," Alice responded.

Daryl realized it was going to be a long night. If Alice was going to follow him around until the sun came up then there was no telling just how much she was going to expect him to talk. Still, Daryl supposed it gave him something to do besides dwell on the same thoughts the spent all day thinking on while they rode. Of course, he wasn't going to tell her that.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: OK, here we go…a little something else here.**

**I just wanted to remind anyone that may have forgotten that I'm really just going off on my own here and not following the show. The more I plan ahead in the story, the more I realize just how much I'm going to go off on my own…so I just wanted to offer you a little reminder in case you hate that kind of thing and want to bail out now. **

**For those of you who want to stay, I'm glad! I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think! **

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Daryl woke up with a start with something slammed into him. He sat up a little and immediately realized that it was Carol. She'd hit him…though it hadn't been on purpose. She was asleep and she was fighting like hell, starting to make protesting sounds. In the darkness Daryl grabbed her and shook her. She had nightmares…sometimes they were worse than others. Daryl didn't ask details about them and in return she never said anything about his.

"Carol…" he said in a loud whisper, trying to find her arms and hold them down. "Carol…wake the fuck up…it's Daryl."

He could tell the moment she woke because she stopped flailing. She was gasping now.

"S'OK," he said. "Just a nightmare. Ya OK."

Daryl lie back down, one hand still on her. She was waking up from the nightmare but she was shaking and he knew whatever it had been had been a bad one.

Something shuffled behind him and Daryl swung around. As soon as his hand made contact he knew it was skin.

"Holy shit! Shit! Fuck me!" He heard Alice protest in the dark. Now she was thumping around and making more noise than she'd made in her apparent trip across the room on her hands and knees.

"Sorry!" He hissed.

T-Dog grunted in the darkness.

"What the hell?" T-Dog asked.

"Daryl just hit me in the fucking face…and I can't find my blanket…" Alice said. "Roll over…you need to be the big spoon."

Daryl heard Carol giggle beside him, apparently calming down from her nightmare.

"That's my leg," T-Dog said.

"Roll over…" Alice protested again.

Carol giggled again.

"I was going to suggest," Alice said, somewhat muffled, "that someone keep you company until you fell back asleep…but I can hear you're not distressed anymore."

"I'm sorry…" Carol responded.

"Is everything alright in there?" Rick's voice called from the other room.

"We're fine," Daryl responded. "Got it under control."

They were all crammed into one of the smallest houses that they'd found so far and they were practically up under one another. They were only staying in this place for a night…that was for damned sure. Daryl felt like they were all too damn close for comfort here.

His room settled down, though he finally tucked his arm back under his head and moved the hand off of Carol that he'd had on her.

"Ya gon' be OK?" He asked.

"I'm fine…" she offered. "Just a nightmare."

"You should be the big spoon, Daryl," Alice offered from wherever she had finally settled in.

Daryl snickered. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but with Alice it was probably something inappropriate and obviously some sort of torture that she was subjecting T-Dog to.

"What the hell does that mean?" Daryl asked, hearing Carol shifting around next to him. She yawned.

"She's talking about spooning," Carol said. "You know…cuddling but you fit your bodies together, like spoons. The big spoon is the person on the outside, the one that wraps their arm around the other one."

"And that's s'posed ta do somethin'?" Daryl asked. "For nightmares?"

"It's very good for nightmares…" Alice said. "Also good for getting punched in the face. That's my professional assessment…and I'm a doctor."

"Man, shut up and go back to sleep," T-Dog said. "I got to hear your damn mouth all day today and I'm going to hear it tomorrow. At least let me sleep without it."

Daryl wasn't sure how Alice and T-Dog had morphed into some kind of odd couple, but they had over the past few months. Really it seemed to boil down to the fact that the woman belonged to no one and so she seemed to consider herself as a free floating entity that somehow belonged to all of them.

Daryl thought about the spooning thing. It didn't sound much different than hugging…or what it was like when Carol rode behind him on the bike. He knew that he thought it was comforting for her to wrap her arms around him on the bike, so he figured it could be pretty good for nightmares too.

He didn't know, though, if Carol would like it. She wasn't used to having him touch her like he was used to with her. He didn't exactly ride bitch behind her.

Daryl heard her wriggling around, probably trying to get comfortable on a hard floor that was simply never going to be comfortable, no matter how much any of them squirmed. He swallowed and reached his arm out, resting it somewhat awkwardly over her. He waited for her to protest or to move away, but she didn't.

Daryl wasn't sure how he felt about the whole thing, but it really wasn't bad. As he lie there, Carol shifted backwards a little and his arm fell over her a little more. He tried not to think about the fact that she was so damn close to him. The last thing he needed was to have one of his fucked up dreams and wake her up leaving her without any doubts about what his stupid mind came up with when he was sleeping. He just hoped that she slept and that the nightmares didn't come back. He knew how bad nightmares could be, and he hated knowing that some nights she had them bad enough that she spent most of the night waking up from them…he knew because he was typically the one waking her.

He closed his eyes, finally, and tried to go to sleep, hoping to drift off before T-Dog finally fell out again and started snoring.

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Carol was lying there with her eyes closed, trying to will herself to sleep again without moving at all. Daryl had his arm around her and it had her tense enough that she could barely even breathe. She was afraid that if she moved at all he'd think she didn't want it…and she did want it as long as he was comfortable leaving it there.

The nightmare had been one about Sophia. It was so hard to tell when they would come. Sometimes they were nightmares about Ed, and sometimes they were about Sophia. They seemed to take every shape and form that Carol could imagine, but they were always horrible and she always felt desperate when she was trapped in them, even though often times she could somehow tell that it wasn't real.

This one, though…this had seemed so real. They were back on the highway, the day that Sophia had disappeared, and Carol had gone after her. She'd gone over the guard rail instead of Rick. She hadn't been afraid and hadn't hesitated. She'd had her knife on her, something that wasn't the case back in those times, and she'd caught one of the Walkers. She was fighting with it…but they were coming out of nowhere and there were more and more of them. She kept fighting and trying to make Sophia run…

Carol shuddered remembering the nightmare and Daryl tightened his arm around her a little. She sighed. She could live those nightmares, in every form, a million times…but there was nothing she could do to change a single thing.

She tried, though, to distract herself away from it. She couldn't dwell on it. She needed to sleep so she didn't get too tired on the bike tomorrow. They would move on with the sun and she knew that when she dozed on the bike it worried Daryl that she'd flip them or fall off…

Staying up all night remembering nightmares and wondering…if she'd felt as strong then as she felt now…if there was any way she could have saved Sophia...those things weren't going to change anything.

For now, all she could do was be thankful that Daryl cared enough to come out of his comfort zone to try to comfort her a little and try to sleep before morning and the next move.

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When they stopped the next day on the roadside at a cluster of cars, everyone seemed thankful to finally stretch their legs for the moment. Daryl watched a few minutes as people went in various directions to do whatever tasks they had in mind. He took his crossbow and slung it over his shoulder. When they moved on from here it wouldn't be long before he started looking for a place to stop them for the night. They could afford, these days, to stop with time to spare to actually cook, and he felt like they'd gotten in enough of a ride today to give everyone a break and a little more down time.

Besides, he knew that Carol was tired and he knew that he was tired too. Despite his best efforts, she'd relapsed into another nightmare not long after he'd fallen asleep the night before and then after that she never seemed to go back to sleep. She kept waking him up by jerking and bumping against him like she was catching herself from falling or something.

"I'm goin' ta hunt for a few minutes," Daryl said to Rick. "See if I can't get a couple a' squirrels or some rabbits. Figure we'll stop soon an' it'd be good ta have some meat in whatever the hell we eat."

Rick nodded at him and Daryl started off, hearing Rick addressing Hershel who he'd been talking to. Just as Daryl stepped into the wooded area, though, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned quickly, honestly expecting Carol or Alice, but saw Rick.

"Can I talk to you a minute?" Rick asked.

"What?" Daryl asked, keeping his voice low in an effort to remind Rick that if he was going to try to get anything at all for them to eat then they didn't need to be making any extra noise to go with that the group was already making not far from them.

Rick followed along, not really responding, for a few minutes as Daryl walked deeper into the woods. He didn't expect to get much of anything, really, but squirrels could be gotten even if your hunting party was less than quiet. He'd settle for a handful of them to clean and drop in among the mixed vegetables.

"It's going to be getting cold soon," Rick said.

Daryl chuckled.

"It's already gettin' cold," Daryl said.

"We don't need to winter like this," Rick said. "Running place to place. We've got to find something, Daryl. Lori's not going to be able to keep going and I don't want to…I can't keep asking her to keep going."

Daryl grunted a little and took aim, taking down a squirrel that was just a few seconds too slow to save its own life. He walked over, collecting the animal and yanking his arrow free from it before tying it to his belt.

"Ain't like we ain't lookin', man," Daryl said. "Every damn one a' us is ready ta get off our asses for a while. Be sure ya tell me if ya seen somewhere I ain't that was suitin' ta stop."

Rick sighed.

"I haven't seen anything," Rick said. "Everything I have seen…everything we've seen…it seems like it's all been burned to the ground or destroyed."

"Safest places are the hardest ta get in an' the hardest ta get out, I reckon," Daryl offered. "Ain't no damn tellin' what the hell went down in all them damn places."

"I was thinking maybe we have to be realistic about this," Rick said. "Maybe if we can't find a place we can build one."

"Ya workin' construction these days?" Daryl asked. He hit another squirrel and Rick stood still, waiting on him to return with the animal.

"I just mean maybe we could find a place and rig our own fences," Rick said. "Come up with our own protection system."

"How ya propose we do that?" Daryl asked. "Hell, Rick…I'm all fuckin' for it if ya got ideas but until we got some startin' points we just chasin' after some fuckin' rainbows."

"It feels like that's what we're doing anyway," Rick responded. "I don't know that we're going to find anything that's ready-made. I don't even know if it's possible to build a perfect place…but there's got to be something better than this constant running, Daryl."

"I agree," Daryl said. "Hell, I wouldn't mind gettin' somewhere an' gettin' outta each other's asses a little while…but I just ain't seen nothin' yet that even looks like it might hold."

Daryl took down a third squirrel and actually congratulated himself, glad the little fuckers were out and running around despite the fact that a chill was starting to descend on the days, and glad that they were slow enough he could still shoot their asses even with the overwhelming noise of the group that was echoing through the woods from behind them.

"I just hope we find some place soon," Rick said. "I don't know what we're looking for…I really don't…but I hope we find it before it's too cold and people start getting sick or freezing out. I mean what about you and Carol? You're open to the elements on the bike."

Daryl grunted. He'd thought of that. He'd thought of it more than once. They could always carry the bike in the back of the truck if need be, but they'd have to pick up another vehicle somewhere because there really wasn't anywhere for them to cram in.

"We'll be alright," Daryl said. "Hell, I'll find us somethin' if'n it gets too damn cold to ride the bike."

Daryl stepped forward, hearing rustling in the bushes. He held his hand up to Rick, not really knowing what to expect. These days it could be some damn thing they wanted to eat…it could be a Walker…or they may have stumbled on another damn Alice traipsing around in the brush.

This time, behind the curtain, the prize was a Walker and Daryl took the thing down from a bit of a distance without even having to get his hands dirty. He walked over to the area where the thing fell to retrieve his arrow and then stepped through the bushes, checking to see if the bastard was a loner or travelling at least in a small pack like they tended to do.

When Daryl stepped through, though, he didn't expect to see what was spread out in the field below them, and he quickly called Rick down to verify that he wasn't hallucinating or some shit like that.

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Not a single one of the group could hardly wrap their minds around what they'd found when they brought them through the woods to show them the prison with its huge fencing system lying out around it. It was almost like an oasis in the desert.

Carol had worried, along with the rest of them, that they'd never take it, though. The prison yard was full of Walkers so that even if they got into it they'd have a lot of work ahead of them to even feel secure in the fences.

Daryl had been the one to reassure her, though, that taking the place was going to be a piece of cake if they wanted it bad enough. They'd won against the herd that had tracked them from the farm and they'd gone on since then to become better fighters…at least most of them had.

They'd found the road, within half an hour, that led down to the prison and they'd brought the vehicles down to wait outside the gates. Glen had gotten them in quickly, to the runs that ran around the fence line and from there they'd established their strategy.

They'd fallen into position and, even though Carol found herself almost too excited with the prospect of finally finding a place to shoot as steadily as she normally would have, they'd eventually succeeded in going through with their plan and taking over the yard.

With the Walkers down and the yard in their possession, they'd moved the vehicles inside the fences and gone to work moving the Walkers to an area where they could burn them. Glenn and Maggie had gone to work collecting rocks to build a barrier around their fire so that they could cook and be warm through the evening. Rick and T-Dog had gone about collecting wood just outside the fences. Carol had sent Alice to bring water they could boil from a running creek just below the fence line. And Daryl had stepped outside the fences and gone hunting, bringing in more than a handful of squirrels that he cleaned for Carol to cook with their canned goods.

With night swallowing them all up, they were all more exhausted than they typically were given the fact that they had put in, not just a full day's work, but the equivalent of maybe two or three typical days in the few hours since they'd gotten there.

It was worth it, though, to have the yard secure, a small fire burning…which they'd all put their blankets around…and the knowledge that the next day they were going to explore further and see if this might actually be the mecca that they'd been searching for.

Carol settled down on one of her blankets and tried to ignore the chill in the air. Daryl joined her, not too long after she'd lied down, and quietly lie by her side, spreading his poncho over the both of them and hunkering closer to her than he absolutely had to so that they could share body heat.

"Do you think we're going to stay here?" Carol whispered to him when he was settled in and she was beginning to warm up.

"Might," he said. "Gonna have ta check the prison out though…think a' somethin'. We ain't gon' be able ta stay if we ain't got no shelter."

"But if we took the yard, surely we can take the prison," Carol responded.

Daryl grunted a little and she could tell that he was already thinking about sleeping.

"Don't worry 'bout it 'til tomorrow," he said. "Tonight we stayin' right where we are an' that's all the fuck we need ta know right now."

Carol sighed and hummed her understanding. She closed her eyes, daring to shift a little closer to him. She wanted the warmth…that was undeniable…but she wanted the comfort of his body too. Daryl made her feel comfortable and he made her feel secure…and he was surprising her by not protesting to her daring acts to steal his warmth and comfort. She supposed, like any good outdoorsman, he wasn't going to protest what was explicable for survival, and body heat was something they both needed, so long as she didn't say anything about his morning issues and didn't make the touching about anything more than what any friend would do for another.

As Carol closed her eyes and started to allow herself to float off to sleep, thinking of the possibility of actually finding a place to settle and to rest, she felt Daryl timidly rest his hand on her hip. She woke, for just a second, and felt her heart skip a beat, but she immediately willed her breathing to calm and closed her eyes again, reminding herself that it was only natural movement when they were sleeping so close to each other. And finally, she felt herself drift off, exhaustion taking over and pushing excitement aside, letting her finally sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: OK…here's another little something for you guys! Now that we've found the prison and all…**

**Thank you for all your comments and reviews. I'm so glad to see you're enjoying the story and you're excited to see where we're going! I may try to get another chapter up for you tomorrow. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think! **

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The next day had been such a whirlwind of activity that Carol felt like even though they'd all seen each other, off and on, throughout the day, no one had actually really seen anyone else. In the morning, breakfast barely finished, a handful of them had gone inside the prison fences and cleared the area. Then they'd moved farther in, clearing as they went, while the others who had remained outside got started burning the heaps of Walker bodies that had to be dealt with.

They'd cleared a cell block out next. Rick and Daryl had pushed a little farther than the initially cleared cell block, Block C, but they'd decided that it would be better to take things slowly. If they were really making this space their home, and if it was going to be something long term, then they had more than enough time to work on clearing out Walkers in other areas so long as their living space was secured.

In addition to the cell block, they also cleared a few offices that were secure and located just off the block. Each of the offices had offered up only a handful of Walkers and so clearing them had been nothing more than swatting at mosquitos in comparison to the rest of the day. There was also a room that had most probably been a type of lounge area for the guards and staff, but it had two small tables in it and it had the potential for running water in a sink if they were ever to get any sort of plumbing working. At least, for the time being, though it could serve as a dining room of sorts for their small little group.

Once they'd cleared out the area and were confident that their designated space was being infiltrated by any more Walkers, the clean up began with bodies being taken out and burned and fires being watched. At the same time, it was also time to clean up the disgusting remains of the Walkers in an effort to sleep in a place that wasn't coated in Walker much and the stench of decay.

Luckily there were cleaners to be found in the room that would now serve as their dining room. There was a utility closet that offered them more than enough to clean up the area that would serve as their temporary, and maybe even permanent home.

Carol had organized the cleaning of the space while Rick and Daryl had organized the burning. It had all taken the entire day, but at the end of the day the space smelled like lemon cleaner instead of death and the fires that burned away the remains of the Walkers were lower and under control for anyone who took watch in the one watch tower that they'd cleaned out so that they could keep guard over their space.

Lori, advised to stay away from the chemicals they were using to clean and clearly unable to help move Walker bodies, had been kind enough to volunteer to start a fire outside for cooking and for warming water that the others brought up in utility buckets they'd found for bathing.

They system, though imperfect, worked for the night and that was all they needed. A good night's rest in a secure location with the promise of not having to move on the next day was going to be welcomed by all.

So all of them, exhausted as they were and filthy, ate nearly in silence in the freshly cleaned dining room lit only by some of the candles that they had. Afterwards they brought in the supplies from their vehicles, piled it in the common area, and began to take cells.

Carol waited to the side while they were choosing cells. It didn't much matter to her where she ended up and she thought it might be more important to the others. Hershel and Beth wanted to bunk together so they chose a cell. With Hershel's blessing Maggie and Glenn took a cell to share.

Daryl declared that he wasn't sleeping in a cage and took the perch, dragging a mattress from one of the closer cells out to it. T-Dog and Alice ventured to the upper level of cells choosing ones that were side by side, and Rick set Carl up in his own space.

As Carol hung back, she wondered where her place would be. The only terrible thing about this prison, even though it was an answer to their prayers for shelter that would last them longer than the halfway houses they made along the way and would deliver them from the never ending pounding of the pavement that had been their way of life since the farm, was that it no longer provided her any reason at all to be in the direct company of Daryl.

He had his perch…secluded and isolated from the rest. Alone, just the way he wanted to be. Carol knew that he wasn't going to miss sleeping next to her, not like she would miss him.

She figured, finally, that she'd take her own cell. She'd be on her own for real now.

Suddenly Carol wasn't feeling so tired and she wasn't feeling so anxious to rest.

"Rick," she called, getting Rick's attention as he was moving some of his things.

"What is it, Carol?" Rick asked. Carol looked at him by the light of the lantern that he was holding in his hands…one of the camping lanterns that they'd acquired along the way and that luckily they'd scavenged enough of to go around...and Carol could tell that he was exhausted. He'd said time and time again they needed to find this place for Lori, but it was evident that Rick needed this place as much as anyone.

"I'll take first watch," Carol offered.

Rick tipped his head to the side and looked at her with tired concern. It was the same look he wore most of the time when he wasn't certain that something was a good idea but he also wasn't certain why it wasn't.

"Don't you want to sleep?" Rick asked.

Carol shrugged in response.

"I'm really not too tired," she said. "I think I'll be fine on watch. Just let me put my things in a cell."

Rick glanced back toward the cells as though contemplating them.

"Have you picked one yet?" He asked. "I can help you move your things."

Carol didn't really think the cell mattered. It was a place to sleep…to be alone. It wasn't like it was of the upmost important which of the shoebox residences she chose to make her own. She also didn't really need Rick's help moving her things. Now that everything had found a home somewhere and she glanced at what was designated "hers" sitting on the floor beside her, Carol realized how very little she actually had. She had a blanket…she'd silently given Daryl the extra sleeping back figuring that his space was less comfortable than a prison cot…and she had a tattered cardboard box that held everything else that she could realistically call hers. Beside that sat one of the camping lanterns that would be designated hers.

Carol shrugged at Rick again and smiled.

"I'll just take whatever's empty," she said. "It really doesn't matter."

In response Rick bent and picked up her cardboard box of belongings and she gathered her lantern and blanket. He walked to one of the empty cells and asked her if it was alright and she nodded. She'd meant what she said and it wasn't like location was key in a place like this. Once cell was just as good as the next in her opinion.

Rick put her box down on the floor and she threw the blanket on the bed, keeping the lantern and lighting it quickly with a lighter he passed her. She tried to pass the lighter back to him, but he waved at her.

"Keep it," he said. "We've got plenty and if it goes out you'll need some light."

Carol nodded and pocketed the lighter. She stepped around Rick and out of the confined space of the cell, back into the common area.

"I have my knife," she said. "I need a gun, though."

Rick nodded.

"I haven't had a chance to take the rifles and ammunition up there," Rick said. "I'll take this watch with you."

Carol could tell that Rick was all but dead on his feet. Honestly she'd be just as effective on her own as she would be with him if something were to happen. He didn't even seem to be processing things at full speed.

"I'll be fine on my own, Rick," Carol protested. "I'm sure nothing's going to happen."

The truth was she didn't expect anything at all to happen. Basically they'd be watching for breaches in the fences or the sudden arrival of Walkers that would indicate breaches in the fences. It was the first night, and they were going to really have to play things by ear until they got a better feel for the new place that they'd be calling home. Still, she didn't suspect that Walkers were going to come charging through some unseen hole in the perimeter since they hadn't invited themselves in before when there was more than enough activity to draw their attention.

"It's the first night, Carol," Rick said. "I'd really feel safer if you weren't out there alone. I was going to take watch anyway."

"I've got it," Daryl said, coming down the steps from his perch, lantern in hand and crossbow slung over his shoulder.

Carol didn't imagine his crossbow would do him any good on a night watch in a guard tower, but the thing to him was like her knife was to her. It was a security blanket, of sorts, for adults trapped in a Walker filled world.

Carol felt her heart skip a beat and her stomach flip at the thought that Daryl was giving up his first night of sleep in the new place to share watch with her. She'd never done a watch before…at least not officially, and now she was doing it with Daryl. It really wasn't anything special, since watch partners were often random, but she somehow felt special knowing that he'd volunteered for it.

Rick nodded his head in Daryl's direction as Daryl stopped beside Carol.

"Fine," Rick said. "I'll be out to relieve you in a few hours with someone. The rifles are still in the back of the truck with the ammo bags."

Daryl nodded his head.

"We got it," he said.

Rick walked away then and Carol turned and smiled at Daryl. He looked at her out of the side of his eye and offered her the slightest hint of a smile before leading her out of the prison. She followed him to the truck that they'd pulled through the fences and almost to the prison door and they got the rifles and the duffle bag of ammo.

Daryl took the lion's share of the gear and passed Carol one of the rifles which she hung on her shoulder. She followed him, then, both with lanterns in hand and probably appearing to be fireflies from a distance, to the watch tower they'd cleaned out earlier.

Once they were inside and settled down where they could see as much as could possibly be seen in the darkness, Daryl turned to her.

"You afraid a' the dark or somethin'?" He asked.

Carol wasn't sure what prompted such a question. The truth was that she _was_ afraid of the dark, at least to some degree. Ed had often thought it was amusing to lock her closets or in the basement because he knew she was claustrophobic. She supposed that as the occurrences became more regular with him, she'd subconsciously begun relating the dark to her feelings of dying because she couldn't breathe and also to the fear of Ed that filled the spaces she was locked in.

But she wasn't really afraid of the dark in itself, and she was even less afraid of it with Daryl around.

"No, I'm fine," she said.

Daryl nodded a little and quickly turned down the wick and extinguished one of the lanterns, placing the other on the floor between them. They were shrouded almost entirely in darkness with just the tiny flickering light to illuminate the space.

"Figure we could save some a' the fuel," Daryl said. "Ain't no sense in wastin' it when we just sittin' out here waitin' for the damn hours ta pass."

"What do you think of the prison?" Carol asked. "Do you think it's a good choice?"

"Hell, I don't know," Daryl responded. "Reckon it's 'bout the best we had, though. Seems safe enough…for the time bein'. Only time'll tell, though."

Carol knew what Daryl meant by that. Everything they'd done so far…everywhere they'd been and dared to call safe…had essentially boiled down to the same thought. It was safe right up until they realized it wasn't. It was safe right up until tragedy struck.

Carol shuddered a little with the thought and Daryl looked over at her.

"Cold?" He asked.

Carol didn't want to admit that she'd just briefly tripped into the land of all the tragedy that had befallen their group since the beginning, so she lied and said she was cold with a nod and a quiet yes, even though she really wasn't. The long sleeve shirt she was wearing offered, honestly, enough protection from the night air, especially with the somewhat protective walls of the guard tower.

Carol didn't expect it, but the next thing she knew Daryl was shuffling around. He took off the poncho he was wearing draped over his shoulders and leaned around her wrapping it around her.

"I'm fine," she said. "You're going to be cold."

"I'm good," Daryl said. "Damn thing's too hot anyway. Better without it 'til it gets colder."

Carol could see in his face that the deal was closed. When Daryl had said all he was going to say on a matter he had a way of shutting down. His face just looked closed down to accepting anymore thoughts on the matter. He chewed at his thumb now and looked out over the prison yard that expanded below them.

And Carol sank into the feel of the poncho around her. It smelled like Daryl…and though there was a time in her life she might not have thought that the smell of sweat and dirt and something else was a good smell, for now it was the best that she could imagine. And if she'd been cold before, she certainly wasn't now since the garment retained his body heat.

She watched him, trying to determine if he really was cold, but if he was he didn't make any show about it. She tugged the edges of the poncho tighter around her and sighed a little to herself, looking out in the darkness at whatever it was they were supposed to be looking at.

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Daryl didn't know what possessed Carol to offer to take the very first watch in the prison, but for whatever reason she had. Of course, since they'd had their fight against the Walkers at the retirement home, there had been something about Carol that had changed a little. She'd tried to volunteer to get involved in most all of the activities that they'd done, even if he might have deemed them a little too risky to be sensible for her to dive into them, and he shouldn't have been surprised that she'd be one of the first to jump at the idea of a watch.

Still, they didn't know much about the prison and they didn't know how safe it was. It seemed safe, but they couldn't guarantee that it was, and for Daryl that meant it wasn't safe enough to send Carol out there alone…it just wasn't a good idea when they didn't know what might be out there or what they might have to expect before the sun came up.

Rick had volunteered to go out with her, but Daryl had watched the man during the course of the day and knew that Rick wasn't at the top of his game. He hadn't rested well in a while and probably if anyone could use a decent night's sleep out of the group it was Rick. So Daryl had volunteered to go and spend the hours with Carol in the watch tower that he'd become accustomed to spending with her sleeping in whatever cramped space they'd called shelter for a night or two.

He didn't mind anyway. He wasn't exhausted and he was almost a little pumped up by the thought that they'd accomplished so much in the span of one day. He didn't like the idea of being cooped up inside a prison, mostly because he didn't like being inside more than he had to, but he was glad that they'd found some sort of shelter and something to offer them, hopefully, a safer winter than they would have had out on the open road.

Besides, if he'd laid up there on his mattress on the perch he'd have probably spent most of the night awake, staring at the ceiling. If that was going to be the case he might as well spend the night in the guard tower, which offered a little bit more of the feeling of being outside.

The truth was, if he hadn't thought they'd expect him to take watch every damn night, Daryl might have chosen to just sleep in the guard tower, at least until the bitter cold set in.

So now, here he was, sitting in silence with Carol and waiting as the minutes ticked past, unmarked really, until Rick or whoever was chosen would come to relieve them. Carol sat, silently, beside him, wrapped up in his poncho.

She guarded the silence that he enjoyed and barely broke it. Unlike some of the others, Daryl could spend the entire night in Carol's company without the stress of making idle chitchat, and when they did make it, she never made it last any longer than he wanted it to. As soon as he let it die down, out of boredom or out of the lack of desire to keep talking, she let it die down as well instead of feeling the need to keep resurrecting the dead conversation as though it were some kind of Walker.

In the faint flicker of the lantern light, Daryl kept glancing over at Carol. He liked looking at her when she didn't know he was looking. There was something about Carol, whenever she was thinking about something…lost off in some other world that no one else had access to…that made her look so different than when she was actively engaged with everyone and thinking hard or worrying about what was happening.

When she was lost, like she was now, in contemplation, Daryl thought she looked like a girl…though he really didn't know how old Carol was. Her hair was gray, which would suggest she was of a certain age, but honestly Daryl didn't know how old that was and he knew well enough from people he'd met throughout his life that hair turned grey at different times for everyone.

Every now and again, when he glanced at her, Carol would be looking at him or he'd catch her eyes dart in his direction. He typically tried to avert his own eyes as quickly as possible, hoping that she hadn't seen him looking at her, but every now and again he knew he was caught. She would offer him, each time he knew he was caught and dared to let his eyes hold there for a moment, a soft smile and he would return it with the best expression he had to try and mirror the one that she was wearing.

She'd said she was cold and Daryl didn't doubt it. He liked the briskness of the night, but Carol was pretty much just skin and bones and he imagined that without any sort of insulation a woman like her would probably get cold pretty easily. She didn't look cold now, though, wrapped up in the poncho, and Daryl was glad of it. Even if it had been colder than it was he would have offered her the garment to keep her from shivering. It was the least he could do for a lady, and he figured Carol was probably the only real lady he'd ever encountered.

"The stars are pretty," Carol said, pulling Daryl out of his contemplations for the moment. He followed her gaze up toward the Georgia sky, wide open above them and above the clearing around them. Tons of tiny stars spotted the dark cloak of the night sky and were made only that much more visible by the fact that the world was no longer garishly lit up by the electric lights that had once served to almost block out the stars entirely.

"They're alright," Daryl said. "Ya can see the Big Dipper," he said, pointing out the constellation.

"Where?" Carol asked. Daryl noticed she wasn't looking in the right direction, so he slid closer to her, turning her face with his hand and pointing.

"There…ya see it?" He asked. The dippers were the only constellations he'd ever been able to find. Merle had showed them to him when he was a kid and he'd thought it was pretty damn cool that the stars could draw out pictures like that. For one reason or another it had always been something that he'd held onto and every time he could see the stars even halfway clearly he searched them out.

"I see it!" Carol declared, sounding so proud of herself for having followed his directions that Daryl stifled a chuckle.

Daryl knew she didn't mean to, but Carol absentmindedly leaned back into him, against his chest, and he stayed frozen for a moment so she wouldn't realize she was doing it and move.

She turned to him, after a moment, though, and apparently realized it because she leaned up and relieved the pressure off of him. She looked at him, smiling softly, and Daryl couldn't help but notice the way the flicker of the lantern light danced in her eyes for a second…that look there where she looked like a girl for just a fleeting moment.

"Do you know any others?" Carol asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"I can find the big dipper," he said. "Sometimes the little one…or maybe I can find the little one and sometimes the big one…" He hated to admit that unless he could find them both he wasn't really positive which was which.

Carol smiled at him again and Daryl looked away from her quickly. With her looking at him like that he got uncomfortable. It reminded him too damn much of all the damn dreams he'd had about her. His brain was nice enough to recreate that same fucking smile for him whenever he had the dreams…except then she was never smiling about the big dipper.

"Well…it's nice to be able to find them," Carol said. She'd turned her head just after he turned his and he glanced out of the corner of his eye again to see what she was doing. She was looking again, now, up at the stars. "Constellations or not, though, the stars _are_ beautiful tonight."

Daryl grunted and tried to distract himself from thinking about the fact that in front of him, looking up at the Georgia sky spreading out above them, she was wearing that look again…the one that he liked so damn much…and he couldn't help but think the stars weren't the nicest view from the guard tower.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: So here we go, another little chapter. **

**I'm glad you all liked the flirty little star gazing. I promise, we've got much ahead to make you all oooh and ahhh like I do over the idea of flirty little Caryl times. This chapter, however, is not that…this chapter is a little more development to our plan.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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"I didn't expect to see you up, honestly," Alice said as she crossed the yard beside Carol. Alice carried two empty buckets and Carol carried a third to go and get water from the small creek that ran just below the bottom fences to the prison. Carl was already waiting down there by the gates to let them out when they arrived and were ready to pass through.

"You know how it is," Carol said. "There's too much to be done to sleep in."

"Oh yeah," Alice said, teasing her. "And we certainly couldn't manage if you didn't sleep deprive yourself."

Carol made a face at the woman and Alice laughed at her.

When they reached the gates, Carl fumbled to get them open, having already taken down a few Walkers through the fence.

"I'll draw the Walkers over there," he said, pointing, "when you're ready to come back through."

"Sounds good," Alice responded to him. She turned to Carol. "Who's covering our asses?"

"I'll cover you on the way out," Carol said. "You can cover me on the way in."

Carol pulled out her knife and Carl slid back the gate so they could slip out, Carol first. She immediately took down the two Walkers closest to them and tried to keep her eyes open as they slipped down toward the water, but the Walkers weren't too bad and she wasn't really forced to use too much caution since the ones in the immediate area seemed to momentarily have more interest in the clanging noise that Carl was making on the fence with his crowbar.

"So," Alice asked, looking around while she waded in the water and filled the buckets she was passing back up to Carol, "how did the watch go? I saw you go out there with Daryl last night."

Carol shrugged a little to herself since Alice wasn't really looking at her.

"It went fine," she said. "Nothing happened and I don't think any Walkers are going to get through the fences."

"You know damn good and well I wasn't talking about Walkers," Alice said. "You were up in that fucking tower all night…alone…you're telling me you didn't sneak a little kissy poo or some shit?"

Carol felt herself blush and stepped away for a moment under the guise of going to kill a Walker that really wasn't paying them any attention. She came back, wiping her knife clean on the pants she was wearing.

"I've told you, it's not like that," Carol said.

"Oh Christ!" Alice declared, crawling out of the water and up onto the side where Carol was waiting. "Put your fucking knife away and grab some buckets…I'm covering."

Carol slipped her knife back into its holster and Alice took hers out and took up one of the full buckets.

"You're going to keep saying it's not that way, but I'm telling you it is…you can hang that friend bullshit up. Give him a little kiss and I bet your ass you end up getting some," Alice said.

Carol stood still as Alice walked off a few steps and waited for an approaching Walker to reach her before slamming her knife into its skull. She made a wretching noise when mess oozed out of it and over her arm, turning the bucket away from the dripping thing as it fell. Then she made her way back towards Carol to continue toward the fence while Carl distracted the Walkers that would be there waiting for them.

"And what about you and T-Dog?" Carol asked. "You're awful friendly…"

Alice chuckled.

"Honey, if there was more Italian in my blood and I had a love for the salami, I'd more than jump on that shit…that's one case, though, where we sincerely are just fucking friends," Alice responded.

She put her bucket down and yanked the fence open far enough for Carol to slip inside. Carol put her buckets down and rushed out to get the third while Alice took care of the two Walkers who had lost interest in Carl and gained a newfound interest in the now open gate.

Once they were all inside again, Alice returned her knife to its holster, took up one of the buckets, and they left Carl to lock up.

"I really don't think it's like that," Carol said. "I don't think…I mean I don't know…but I don't think that Daryl's ever…"

She stopped, feeling herself blush again at the very thought of it all. She didn't want to be there contemplating Daryl's sex life. She might do it in private, and for that she felt guilty enough, but she wasn't sure she wanted to do it with Alice while crossing the prison yard.

"You think he's a virgin?" Alice hissed.

"I don't know," Carol said. "I think he could have any woman he wants…I just don't know if he's found one he really wants yet…and I'm not that type of woman. Beth would be good for Daryl."

"Mmmm…jailbait. It's delicious," Alice said. "Shut that shit up before I dump this damn bucket of water over your head and then we've got to do this whole little song and dance routine again."

Carol glanced around, afraid that Alice was being too loud and was going to draw the attention of someone, but luckily everyone else was inside the prison either working on clearing out more or waiting on them to get back with water to start up the laundry they were hoping to get control of.

Carol stopped a moment and put her buckets down, pretending that her arms were tired but really hoping to buy a few more moments. Alice followed suit and stopped, facing her.

"I'm serious…it's just not like that," Carol said. "I promise you that I have known Daryl for a long time…he doesn't look at me that way…and you're sweet but you don't have to be nice to me. I know, OK…and I'm not just fishing for compliments. I know that I'm not the kind of woman that Daryl could have. Maggie…Beth…someone young and beautiful. That's what he deserves."

Alice tipped her head to the side and cocked an eyebrow at Carol.

"First…I think you're too damn blind to know how anyone looks at you," Alice said. "Second, sweet is about the last damn adjective you're ever going to hear to describe my ass. I'm not sweet. Not to you or any damn body. If I pay you a compliment, it's because I fucking mean it. I'm dead fucking serious…where did you get this self-loathing shit from because that shit had to come from somewhere."

Carol sighed and looked at Alice, starting to pick up her buckets but Alice caught her by the arm and drew her attention again.

"Who was it?" Alice asked. "Was it your dad? Your husband? Was it the same fucker who…" Alice looked away a minute. "You know what? Doesn't fucking matter…because you can bet that whoever it was is dead. Look around, Carol…I like to think that this was…if not just the biggest disaster known to mankind…maybe it was the Magical Mystery Tour of the fucking karma bus. Maybe all the real fuckers are dead…I mean if good people could bite it then I hope to shit they did too. What happened before doesn't matter too damn much. What people said and what they did…they're walking worm food now. Don't let them eat at you if they can't fucking catch you."

Alice shook her head and reached down, picking up her own bucket and starting toward the prison. Carol took hers up quickly and caught up with Alice with a few over lengthened strides.

"It was my husband," Carol admitted. Alice slowed her steps.

"See? Dead. A great big dead asshole," Alice responded.

Alice was quiet for a minute and then she stopped, turning back to Carol. Carol paused, sitting the heavy buckets down again.

"Did you love him?" Alice asked, narrowing her eyebrows.

"My husband?" Carol asked. Alice nodded in response. Carol thought about it. She'd loved Ed once upon a time when she was young, or at least she thought she loved him, though now she wasn't so sure. "I don't know," Carol admitted. "I thought I did…"

Alice shook her head.

"Then you didn't love him," Alice said. "If you love someone, you know it. If you really, really love someone then they get in your blood. It's not something you stand back and wonder about, it's something that you just know."

"So you're one of those people who believes you only love one person in your entire life?" Carol asked, shading her eyes from the sun.

Alice shook her head.

"No, not at all. I think you can love all kinds of people…and you can love them so many different ways. But that real love…the one that you'll never, ever fucking get over? That's a one-time shot. They say lightning only strikes once, it'll never hit the same damn tree again. If you didn't love him…which you obviously didn't…then let him go. Bury him where the fuck he needs to be...might be the only way your lightning strike is ever coming," Alice said.

Alice took up her bucket again and Carol waited a moment before taking up her own. Something had come over the woman for a moment and Carol thought, watching her take the largest strides that she could, that maybe she needed to be alone for a minute.

Carol walked slowly behind Alice, watching her close the distance to the prison. Maybe what Alice had said was right. Maybe she never had really loved Ed. Their relationship…in the beginning…maybe it was only puppy love. Carol knew she loved Daryl, though…she'd just always thought it was different than the love that she'd felt for Ed. She'd always just assumed that maybe it was just some special kind of love, one that was only specific to Daryl.

In the end it really didn't matter, though. If you loved someone who could never love you back, what was really the point of even trying to figure it out? You might know you loved them, just like she knew she loved Daryl, but it was just a one way street…and it was a dead end. There wasn't any use in waxing poetic about if the unrequited love was your one true love…the fact remained that it was and would always be unrequited.

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"Keep talkin'," Daryl said. He couldn't believe he was making the request of Alice, but if they were cleaning out this portion of the tombs then it was actually the best plan he had. Her voice carried better than anyone else's in the echoing corridors and she was like a fucking ice cream truck for Walkers. They heard her and they came running. Daryl figured the only way she'd even lived this fucking long was keeping her mouth shut out in the woods.

"Excuse me?" Alice said. "This is like fishing for Sasquatch with beef jerky and I don't appreciate being your fucking bait!"

Daryl chuckled at her voice echoing through the area where they were. A few minutes later he heard the low growl and shined his light in time to see three approaching Walkers. He stepped forward and stabbed two of them while Alice took the third, grumbling something about the mess.

They'd branched off, going in opposite directions, trying to start the daunting task ahead of them. The task of cleaning out the various parts of the prison was going to take a long ass time, even if they split up and took different parts, but it was going to have to be done, little by little.

Daryl had considered just running like an idiot into the tombs and chasing shadows in the darkness, which was the preferred method of most of the others, but then he'd noticed that Alice's voice hit a particular octave when she spoke. It was just off pitch enough, or something, to be a little annoying to the ears, but it echoed like crazy in the dark spaces and brought the Walkers right to them, letting them stay close enough to the safe area to escape in a hurry if they needed to and also making it easier to get the bodies out when the area was clean enough to risk moving them.

"Three damn more down," Daryl said, leaning back a second against the wall behind him. "Keep talkin'."

"You think this shit is hilarious, don't you?" Alice asked, turning around at Daryl.

"Damn sure do…why don't you tell me 'bout how bad it pisses ya off?" Daryl said, provoking her in hopes that she would call the next round of growling fuckers around the corner soon. He didn't know how good everyone else was doing elsewhere, but he'd already cleared their path four times and had the walls lined now with Walker bodies like they were fucking sand bags.

"Fine," Alice said. "If I'm supposed to just keep talking then why don't you tell me about yourself? Give me something to talk about."

"'Cause they don't like the sweet sound a' my voice," Daryl responded. "Sing or some shit. Dog says ya don't never shut the fuck up so don't clam up on me now."

"T-Dog can say what he wants," Alice responded, "but I kept his ass from falling asleep in that truck and running right over you on that bike."

Daryl chuckled.

"Fine…elaborate on that shit…I don't give a damn what'cha talk about," Daryl said. "Just keep right on fuckin' talkin'."

"Oh?" Alice asked. "You don't give a damn what I talk about?"

"Nope," Daryl said. He heard the growls and waited. "Keep goin', princess," he said.

"Fine, I'll keep talking," Alice said.

Two growling fuckers appeared then and Daryl took them down without needing the woman's help. He drug the bodies as quickly as he could to the side, building up the piles to make it easier when it was time to move them out, and also clearing a path for more Walkers to come straight to them and for them to make a faster exit as they moved farther down the corridor.

"Let's talk about women," Alice said.

Daryl chucked and ran his hand through his hair. He knew the woman was supposed to be a lesbian. He'd heard Merle talk about lesbians and shit plenty but he wasn't sure if he'd ever actually met one or if he'd just met women that Merle thought were lesbians because they wouldn't fuck him. Merle had a thought, for instance, that Andrea was a lesbian back in the day, but Daryl didn't know if she was or she wasn't…mostly he figured she just didn't want to blow Merle and that had a tendency to piss Merle off.

"About women?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah!" Alice declared, raising her voice enough to send a good echo sounding. Daryl was sure that by now anyone in any part of the prison connected to this could hear when she raised her voice that high and might have figured out what his secret weapon was to clearing the area. "I haven't gotten any in a bit. How about you?"

Daryl wasn't sure he was going to like this kind of conversation. He didn't respond to the question. Instead, he waited to see if she'd keep going, keeping up her end of the deal. When she didn't, Daryl realized he was going to have to do something to prompt her to keep going and he was saving his last resort, poking her with an arrow until she spoke, until he was certain there was no other way to get anything out of her.

"How's that shit even work anyway. Ya two damn women, right? Can't fuckin' do nothin'…don't even count," Daryl said.

Alice made a face at him and he was certain he'd just gotten a rise out of her that would probably compete with anything he could get by poking her with an arrow.

"I tell you what…" Alice said. "I bet I could make it count more than you could. I bet if we were in some kind of fucking prison sound off I could make more noise come out of my cell than you could get out of yours any day."

Daryl chuckled and raised his eyebrows at her, even though she couldn't clearly see him in the dim light of the lantern at their feet.

"Ya reckon so, huh?" Daryl asked. "Don't count if it's your shrill ass voice."

"So damn funny!" Alice responded. "Would you even know what to do with it if you had it?"

"Bitch," Daryl responded.

"Damn sure am," Alice said. "Let's play a game…who in the prison do you like?"

"I said keep talkin'," Daryl responded. "We ain't at no damn slumber party, though, an' I ain't no damn teenager."

"You're no fuckiing fun," Alice said. "I'll tell you what…I've bathed with everyone here. I know the goods."

"Peepin' Tom?" Daryl asked.

"Oh like you wouldn't look at a nice ass or a nice pair of tits if you had the chance!" Alice said.

Daryl chuckled at her again. He could hear shuffling in the corridor, but he wasn't sure how far away their little friends were.

"Rick'll knock ya on ya ass for lookin' at Lori," he teased.

"Shut up!" Alice yelped at him. He knew damn good and well how she felt about Lori, but the comment was enough to make the shuffling grow louder and give way to growls. "I said NICE ass or NICE tits!" Alice declared. "Lori doesn't even have an ass or tits. Some of these Walkers are nicer to look at."

Daryl laughed then and the combination of her voice and his laugh brought the friends they'd been waiting for around the corner. There were more than he expected and he almost wished he had two knives when a baker's dozen rounded the corner.

"Holy shit!" Alice declared, stepping in with him to start trying to keep them both from becoming lunch in the cramped space.

"No more talkin'!" Daryl growled.

After a few minutes of struggling, and Daryl having to get at least one Walker off the woman before she joined the pile of bodies out here, they finally had the Walkers subdued, but both of them were panting from the exhaustion.

"Fuck," Daryl declared when he got his breath. He chuckled at Alice who was still looking like she might collapse. "That's about enough of that shit for one evening. Let's go see if they got some fuckin' supper made."

Alice smiled at him, being careful not to say anything. She pulled herself off the wall and Daryl grabbed the lantern, leading her back to their escape door. Once they were outside of the space and the door was closed to keep any unwelcome guests out, Alice started chuckling.

"We didn't do too bad," she said.

"Not too bad at all," Daryl declared. "Now I know how the hell ta get'cha talkin'. Ya my official huntin' partner."

"Oh cool!" Alice said. "You're taking me hunting?"

Daryl glanced back at the door they'd just come through.

"_Walker_ huntin' partner. If I took ya any damn where else we'd all be fuckin' vegetarians," Daryl said.

"Fuck you," Alice responded. They started on toward the cell block then. After a moment, Daryl's motor mouth company couldn't keep quiet any longer. "You never told me who you liked…" she said.

Daryl rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to say shit to this woman. If he did it would probably be all over the damn prison faster than if he told Glenn.

"Don't like no damn body," Daryl said. "Ain't got time for that shit."

Alice sucked her teeth.

"That's a shame," she said. She was quiet for a second. "Although, I guess there aren't too many options around here. I mean Lori's married…and a bitch. Maggie's practically married. Beth's breath still smells like breast milk…Carol's got some nice ass tits…but I'm thinking of laying claim to those myself…so it's probably better that you don't have time."

Daryl glanced at the woman who was looking at him. He had thought about the possibility of someone else coming into the group someday…maybe another group of survivors meeting up with them…and he'd figured that Carol might find someone who deserved her, but he'd never thought it would be a woman.

"Carol ain't gay," he said, softly, trying to convince himself that there wasn't anything to be worked up about. He didn't have any claim to Carol, and she'd never see him that way, but he wasn't really looking forward to the day that someone else got her attention either. Even though he knew it would happen, he'd always thought it was something that could be postponed…perhaps indefinitely.

Alice shrugged and smiled.

"Most women aren't until they are," Alice said. She shrugged. "Besides, it's not like she's got a ton of options either, and everybody needs a little something to keep them warm in the winter…if they've got time for it."

Without saying anything else, the brunette pushed ahead in the hallway leading back toward the cell block where the others would probably already be gathering to eat. Daryl stopped a minute, the lantern illuminating the space around him and thought about it.

Daryl knew that Carol deserved better than him, and he'd always kept his distance because he knew that the likes of her didn't run with the likes of the Dixon men, but it would be even more of blow to know he got trumped by a woman…especially when Carol wasn't gay…or at least hadn't ever been before.

Daryl shook his head. Alice was just running her mouth and, after all, that was one of the things he knew she did best. Still, he couldn't quite explain to himself why the idea of Carol with Alice…or really with anyone that was here and now…bothered him as much as it did. He tried to put it out of his mind and made his way toward the cell block hoping that there was something ready to eat and maybe enough water to wash off the smell of rotting Walker.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hi everyone! Just a little more as we keep advancing in our story! **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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As the days slowly passed, the group was falling into a strange sort of comfort about their new place at the prison. It still was left to be seen exactly how long they could assume that it was safe to stay there, but the place seemed pretty secure and they were daring to get out of the "as it comes" mentality and start to think about setting up long term.

Glenn and Maggie had volunteered to go out, taking one of the vehicles, and scout the surrounding area to see how many towns were in reachable vicinity and what they looked like as far as the numbers of Walkers. They were also hoping to bring back some food and supplies so that the group could at least sustain themselves for a while and decide if they wanted to consider the prison something permanent or make a mad rush to try to find something better before winter closed in around them and made the wandering lifestyle unbearable for any of them.

If there were enough towns around them, and if they looked like they could offer up a reasonable amount of various supplies, Daryl and Rick had already discussed setting up what would essentially be raiding parties. They could take a good number of the group members in at once, organize themselves, and clear out as much as possible and stock the place.

Within the prison itself, Carol was taking charge, without really waiting for any official appointment, of setting up a chore schedule and organizing how meals would be prepared and laundry done. She knew these things were minor, or at least would be considered minor by many…she'd heard Andrea's rants on domesticity in the past…but she also knew that without that things that went by unnoticed, life would lack a lot of quality. It wasn't that what she was organizing was really minor so much as it was taken for granted.

The others were working toward cleaning out the prison, hoping to dive deeply into it and find more that it had to offer. They had hopes of finding, as they cleared out the Walkers, a cafeteria…showers…a gym…all the places that they were sure that a place like that had…places that would be luxuries for them, but luxuries they could have if they were readily available.

T-Dog reasoned that there were probably generators to be found as well, either hidden somewhere in the bowels of the prison or in the nearby towns at the least. He figured that with the natural water supply that very nearly ran like a mote around the prison, the water was probably run off of wells and they thought that with enough work and generators they might even be able to rig the place up to have running water and electric lights.

Only time would tell, of course, if their prison would hold all the magic that they thought it might or if they were all essentially like children the night before Christmas who dreamed of things that would never appear under the tree the next day, but for the moment the sheer possibility in front of them had everyone functioning with a certain level of optimism that they hadn't had since the farm days.

"Can you even fucking imagine?" Alice said as she was helping Carol with the laundry. "A real damn shower! When's the last time you took a shower?"

"On the farm," Carol said. "Hershel's house was powered by generators. It was almost like nothing like this was even happening around it. I almost feel like we were the ones that brought Hershel's family into this."

"Well…" Alice said. "I haven't had a shower since about two days before this shit happened. I skipped out on mine because I was working extra shifts at the hospital."

Lori and Beth were busy organizing and sorting the food to ration out for meals. They didn't know yet what Glenn and Maggie might find, assuming that they found anything at all, and they had to assume that nothing more was coming in until they had further information. Both of them, though, were close enough to buy into the conversation of the two women.

"Have they found an infirmary yet?" Lori asked.

"Not that I've heard of," Alice said. "If this prison's like most of them, though, I don't expect it to yield too damn much of anything. Most of them were equipped to handle minor shit like someone got the shit beat out of them or something…but they helicoptered inmates into the hospital all the damn time. You fucking knew it too. Assholes were handcuffed to their beds and shit and depending on how serious they were they came with a couple of guards that stayed with us."

"You worked on inmates?" Carol asked. She'd never really thought of it before, but she guessed that doctors did have to help inmates too.

Alice nodded.

"Hell yeah I did," she said. "Doctors can't discriminate. You gotta save their lives, even if they weren't worth saving. Didn't tell us what they did most of the time though. Didn't want you to be performing a triple bypass on some asshole that murdered his whole fucking family in their sleep and have a slippery scalpel, you know? Gotta keep that jerk alive so the state can continue to pay for his worthless ass."

"Sounds pretty judgmental for someone who declares they save the lives of everyone," Lori said with a snicker.

Carol didn't miss that Alice shot her a look.

"My personal politics and my professional practice don't have to line up. If I could, I'd save the life of whoever crossed my table…regardless of if I thought they were a piece of shit. I'm not God," Alice said.

"Of course you're not," Carol said. "It's good to have a doctor in the group, though. Hershel's a veterinarian…but I'm sure that there are some differences."

Alice shrugged.

"I couldn't say, really. I supposed a lot of the core concepts are the same. Either way, you do what you can, right?" Alice responded.

"Well, I'd appreciate it if we could work soon on finding the infirmary," Lori said. "Or something…before the baby comes."

"Shouldn't be that big of a deal," Alice said. "Carl's your son, right? How did your delivery go with him?"

Carol looked at Lori who was suddenly heavily focused on the canned goods in front of her. Lori had told Carol that things with Carl hadn't gone exactly as planned. She'd planned on delivering him naturally, but from time to time things didn't work out and it turned out that she wasn't physically able to do that. Things just hadn't developed like they should. He'd been delivered by caesarian section and that would likely be what would be necessary for this baby as well.

Carol also knew, though, that Lori had been keeping that pretty well under wraps. She hadn't wanted to cause any wide spread panic or further elevate Rick's stress level which was already, understandably, through the roof.

"C-section," Lori said quietly. She glanced at Alice and Carol saw Alice's face change a little. Then she smiled.

"Well, that's not that big of a deal, right? I mean there are bound to be places around here…towns…if the infirmary doesn't have what the hell we need then we'll get it there. Fetch it on the next run we make…no sweat," Alice responded.

Lori looked at Carol and Carol thought she saw some doubt there, though it may have been just nerves. Carol couldn't imagine being in Lori's shoes. When she'd had Sophia it had all gone as normally as she imagined any delivery could go, so she'd never had the fear of going into some kind of emergency surgery just as her baby was being born, and she certainly hadn't had to think about it in the world that they were currently trapped in, where she knew, as well as anybody else out there, how many things could go wrong.

"Everything will be fine," Carol said. "See? We'll have everything set up and ready to go."

Alice stopped what she was doing.

"I'm going to check on the others," Alice said. "Start figuring out what we might need…how we could reasonably get a generator set up for at least a small area. Good planning is the key to reducing panic, right?"

Carol smiled at her and nodded.

"Ya good here?" Alice asked, gesturing toward everything they had set up to do laundry.

"All set," Carol said. "Go ahead. We've got this covered."

Carol watched as Alice trotted off in search of the others and to do whatever the hell it was she was planning on doing. No matter what it was, though, Carol figured that the old saying was true, an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure.

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Carol hadn't slept anything that could constitute regular hours in the past few days. She couldn't blame it on anyone but herself, really. She'd worked during the day in the prison and she offered to take most of the night shifts so far. Rick protested, a few times, and Daryl had voiced his opinion on it, not to mention the speeches she got from Alice about keeping worse hours than she apparently kept during her residency, but it was by Carol's choosing that she slept so few hours snatched here and there.

The truth was that she didn't like sleeping in the little cell. It was just that, a cell. The space was small and confined, and thought the beds were technically far softer than many of the floors that they'd slept on, she felt so alone in them. She really could hardly breathe in the cell…and that meant that sleeping only really happened when she was so exhausted she couldn't stand it any longer.

And so tonight, as she stepped out the prison and headed toward the guard tower, she was feeling the drain of it all. Her head had started to spin a little if she moved too quickly, and she worried about that, but she wasn't going to say anything to anyone. The most they could do was force her to sleep in the little cell and she was afraid she wouldn't rest then anyway, or that while she tried to rest she'd be plagued with the nightmares that haunted her. They were nightmares of Ed…and nightmares of the day they'd found Sophia in the barn. They were terrible nightmares, and she hated having them anywhere, but she especially hated having them alone in that little cell of solitary confinement.

Carol got up to the watchtower, not sure if she was going to be there alone or not. She was surprised when Daryl was in there, sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall and staring out. Watch was something they'd basically determined was better done in pairs but realistically could be done alone. The prison seemed pretty secure and watch was more a formality at this point than anything truly necessary.

"I got watch tonight," Daryl said when Carol came into the tower and put her own lantern on the floor near his. She sat down and drew her legs up under her.

"I'm fine," she said. "You worked hard today…you could go and sleep."

Daryl made a noise like he was sucking his teeth at her.

"Cleared dead fuckers out a prison," Daryl said. "That what the hell constitutes hard work these days?"

Carol chuckled. She loved seeing him when he was like this. He was relaxed and maybe a little tired. His guard was down. That was something that she'd never seen in the beginning. In the beginning he'd worn his guard like armor and he'd lived in all the time. Now, though, from time to time, she noticed that he lowered it. Especially when it was just the two of them. He wasn't soft…not by any stretch of the imagination…but he became _human_.

Carol sucked in a breath, angry at her thoughts for drifting. When they drifted like this and when she began to think about the Daryl she had the privilege of knowing as a friend, behind the scenes so to speak, was when she started thinking things that were inappropriate. Things that would never happen. It was her own mind torturing her just a little.

It didn't help, either, that she had Alice poking at her and insisting that Daryl saw her in a light that she knew he couldn't possibly see her in. Alice seemed fond of her, and maybe that made her think that she was better than she was…or that Daryl would see her differently than she was...but Carol knew he didn't.

"I guess it's as hard as any other job," Carol said. "We all do what we can."

"Most of us do what we can…most of the time," Daryl said. "I've seen my share of people not doin' what the hell they could though, when it suited them."

Carol nodded a little. There'd been that too, but she tried not to dwell on it. What it boiled down to for her was that she felt like she could at least do all that she was capable of. The more she did, the more she felt like she wasn't such a burden on the group…she felt, then, more like she contributed. It wasn't like she thought they couldn't do without her, but at least she felt like they didn't think she was dragging them down.

Carol yawned, unable to stop herself. The air up there was chilly, and normally that would have kept her awake, but it felt so much better than the cell that she couldn't even explain it. Plus, being there with Daryl had her naturally relaxing a little.

"See? Ya catchin' damn flies or ya fuckin' tired?" Daryl asked, pointing at her. She smiled at him.

"Maybe I'm a little tired," she admitted.

"Take ya ass ta bed. Ain't no need in ya wearin' yaself out when there ain't a damn thing going on up here," Daryl said.

Carol dared to move over beside him and lean against the wall. She was close enough to him that she could smell him and feel just a bit of the heat radiating off of his body, but she wasn't actually touching him.

"I'd really rather stay here," she said.

"Somethin' wrong with ya bed?" Daryl asked.

Carol shook her head.

"Not really," she said. "Just not used to it, I guess. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Do you like yours?"

Daryl hummed like he was carefully considering his reply.

"S'alright," he said. "It's a fuckin' prison mattress on a fuckin' prison floor. Take it for what the hell it's worth. Beats sleepin' in some a' the shit place we been," Daryl said.

"Yeah," Carol responded. She felt silly because her heart sunk a little at his confession. She missed sleeping beside him, as foolish as it sounded, and she'd honestly rather be sleeping on those floors any day with him near her than in her special little bed in her special little cell knowing that he was so far away from her.

Carol sat for a little while and stared out at the nothingness that was around them. She was grateful for the safety and the peace that the past few days had brought…and she hated that any of her feelings if voiced out loud would have made her sound otherwise. She recognized that they were just foolish feelings. They were just something that her mind was doing. Wasn't that always the way it was, after all? We never quit wanting for things…there's always got to be something more that we want out of life. The more our needs are met, then, the more foolish our desires become.

Carol closed her eyes and sighed. She was so tired that she literally thought she might faint if she didn't sleep soon, but she really did hate the idea of going back to the cell. She thought, though, that as long as things were calm out she could at least nap there, leaning against the wall of the guard tower, Daryl beside her watching the blackness.

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Daryl thought that something seemed to be wrong with Carol. She didn't seem in the same high spirits that she was normally in.

That had been something that amazed Daryl about Carol. As much as she'd been through…as much as he knew about…with Ed and with Sophia…she'd worked hard to maintain her morale. She amazed him, really, at times.

Even when Sophia was missing, and even just after they'd discovered the little girl was never coming back, Carol had somehow managed to hold it together better than many of them had over tragedies that Daryl imagined didn't even compare to having your kid die.

He'd listened, for as damn near long as he could remember, to people bitch. It seemed like they bitched about one damn thing or another. Some of it was some stupid ass bitching too. Since this whole damn thing started it had become a way of life, especially for the women when they got their little hen gaggle going. He'd heard Andrea bitch…often times without a real damn good reason. He'd heard Maggie bitch about shit…He'd heard Beth bitch about shit too. Hell, he'd heard Lori bitch about shit every damn day since he met her.

Carol didn't seem to bitch, though. Even when Sophia was missing, when she'd turned up in the barn…even with all that to bitch about, Carol hadn't been much of a bitcher. She'd just sort of dealt with it, in her own damn way of course, but she'd dealt with it.

Daryl wondered if it had to do with how their lives were before all this happened. Sometimes he thought that how they acted now…what they'd become since the world had gone to hell…it was a good damn indication of what they'd been before.

Maybe the more they'd had before all this shit happened shined through now. Maybe those who had the least to bitch about in their pre-fucked lives had more to bitch about now because their pillows weren't as soft and their water wasn't as warm.

Those who had been dealt some shitty cards in their lives…well now that things were just that much shittier there wasn't any since in really rolling around in your agony. Might as well enjoy whatever pleasure you could suck out of what the fuck you did have, because there was a good damn chance it would get a hell of a lot worse before it got better.

Daryl glanced over at Carol and considered blowing out one of the lamps. There wasn't any need having both of them burning. When he turned, though, to ask her if she minded, he realized she was asleep, leaning stiffly against the wall.

Daryl bit his lip. Maybe that's all that was wrong with her. Maybe she was just worn the fuck out and it was hard to be cheerful when you were about to die from sleep deprivation.

He hated to leave her sitting up like that, knowing that even though she was asleep, she couldn't be really resting. He'd slept sitting up a good damn bit in his life and he couldn't remember once waking up and thinking it had been the best damn sleep of his life. Normally he woke up feeling half rested and about thirty fucking years older than he was.

He bit at his thumb. He hated to wake her up, but at least if she lie down she might sleep a little bit better. The tower wasn't too damn comfortable, but it wasn't as bad as some of the places they'd slept.

"Carol," he said, pushing at her shoulder. "Carol, wake the fuck up and swing down some."

Carol barely stirred. Her eyelids fluttered, but she looked reluctant to even let her eyes open entirely. Daryl wondered exactly how much sleep she'd gotten in between doing chores and doing watch. Finally, he decided just to tug at her and she slumped with his tugging, moaning and obviously starting to wake a little.

Her body slid easily enough on the floor and Daryl pulled her head down to rest on his legs. He hissed for a minute at the thought and tried to put it out of his mind. That was the last fucking thing he needed to be thinking about if he was going to volunteer his lap as some sort of pillow. He hoped, though, that when she woke up she wasn't going to be horrified at the thought.

Carol stirred just as he slid her so that her head was resting on his thighs, just above his knees.

"Lay down," he said. "Go back ta sleep."

Carol lifted her head barely and somewhat looked around but Daryl could tell that some of the Walkers hovering outside the fences down below had more consciousness about them. He chuckled a little and reached his hand out, pushing her head back down.

"Lay down," he repeated.

Carol moaned and started to move again as though she would protest and he chuckled again putting his hand on her head and keeping it there for a moment until she lazily gave up any semblance of fighting with him and fell back asleep.

"Just don't drool all over my fuckin' legs," Daryl said, knowing she couldn't hear him. She was already far away from the prison, far away from the watch tower, and far away from him. When she twitched a little, in her sleep, Daryl pulled his poncho off and threw it over her like a blanket. He wasn't tired anyway, and the cool air would keep him that way. One of them, he thought, might as well get a good night's sleep.

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**AN: So…a little step forward for our couple. Now that we're getting settled in the prison things are going to start to pick up…a little…but we've still got some obstacles to overcome. ;-)**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Another little chapter for your reading pleasure. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl was leaned against the wall and very nearly napping himself as the sun was just beginning to come up somewhere and shine a little light on the world, thought he thing was actually visible to him yet.

Carol was still asleep. In fact, he wasn't even sure that asleep was the right word for it anymore. Somewhere in the middle of the night she'd had a nightmare and luckily she'd calmed down from that with nothing more than him telling her everything was alright and reaching down to put his hand on the back of her neck…the physical reassurance that even though you were daring to go back into your terror filled dream state, you weren't going there alone.

She'd slept solid since then and he'd checked her for a pulse before sliding his poncho up over her head enough to block out the light that the rising sun would bring.

Rick was supposed to be relieving him…or them…or however you wanted to look at it, but Rick wasn't exactly functioning at his best right now. Sleep wise he was probably only a little better off than Carol was and Daryl got the feeling that the man was less than the dependable Rick that they'd come to know him as because the whole situation with Lori had him all out of whack.

In short, Daryl figured they probably had a few more hours in the guard tower to go before Rick came to trade out positions. But Daryl didn't mind too damn much and Carol wasn't even aware of if she was alive or dead.

In fact, the only thing that was really killing Daryl, and also the only reason he hadn't dozed off at all, was because his fucking legs were killing him. They'd been asleep so long that he thought he'd never get circulation back in them. He didn't want to wake Carol, though, so he'd suffered through it and tried to will them to move from time to time, ever so slightly, just to make sure his feet didn't fall off.

Daryl was in the midst of one of his rounds of trying to shift his legs without actually moving them to any great extent when he heard a shuffling and looked up. Immediately he saw Glenn looking at him and he tried to replace the probably pained look on his face with one of question, since he hadn't expected the Korean kid to come popping up in the guard tower.

"I…uh…Rick said I…sorry…" Glenn said.

Daryl looked at him. The damn kid hardly ever made any sense and before Daryl could say anything else, Glenn bolted back out the door that he'd come in.

Now Daryl was fully awake, and his shifting and Glenn's presence had stirred his watch partner a little. Carol lifted her head up, first looking in the direction away from Daryl and then looking at him, her hand holding up the poncho.

Daryl snickered at her. Her eyes were still half closed and she looked like she was trying to figure out where the fuck she was and what the hell was going on.

He suddenly had a bigger problem, though, since the blood was starting to course back into his legs a little and the relief of the pressure of her head made him all that much more aware of how bad his legs hurt.

"Daryl?" Carol asked. There wasn't more to her question, though. She pulled herself up, sitting awkwardly beside him in the pulled up position from where she'd been lying. "What's wrong? Are you OK?" She asked after a minute.

"Fuckin' legs were asleep," Daryl grunted through clenched teeth. He started trying to move them, unable to decide whether keeping them still or moving them hurt worse. He leaned his head back against the wall.

"I'm sorry!" Carol said. "Can I do something? What do you need me to do?"

"Ain't nothin' ta do," Daryl said. "Blood's just got ta get back ta where the hell it's s'posed ta be. Ain't nothin' but a thing."

"I'm sorry," Carol repeated. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. You could have moved me…"

Daryl chuckled, the pain turning into the feeling of thousands of pinpricks but being much easier to handle than the initial heavy rush of blood.

"Fuck, Carol. I put'cha there. Ya was tryin' ta sleep sittin' against the damn wall," Daryl said. "Ya been workin' too damn hard an' ya gotta stop that shit. Everybody's gotta sleep some damn time an' if ya waitin' on the assholes around here ta notice than ya 'bout waitin' 'til ya fuckin' fall over dead. Everybody's in their own damn world."

"I'm just doing what I can, Daryl. I didn't mean to get so tired…thank you for letting me sleep," Carol said. She looked around for a moment before Daryl noticed her eyes settle back in on him. "Who's got watch this morning?"

Daryl shifted around now, finally able to get himself into a more comfortable position and begin considering getting off the floor. The truth was that he had to piss something awful but he didn't trust his legs yet to take him out of the watchtower. He hoped they wouldn't take too long to come back to normal because he'd be desperate before long.

"S'posed ta be Rick," Daryl said. "Glenn come up here a few minutes ago…actin' all fuckin' weird an'…well like Glenn. Then he run out. Reckon that's what prob'ly woke ya up."

Carol stretched and started to move around and Daryl mirrored her. He felt stiff and had the normal feeling that came after a night on a hard floor. The feeling of being too damn old for this shit. He could tell as Carol was getting to her feet and stretching as she went, that he wasn't the only damn one in this outfit that though that sometimes.

"I need to go and see about breakfast," Carol said. "I'll find Glenn if you want…you should go and lie down. I'll bring you something to eat to your perch."

Daryl would have normally argued with her, but he was feeling pretty damn tired and he figured that if he could go down, find a private spot somewhere to take a piss without company and smoke a cigarette, he'd be about ready for a couple hours of sleep.

"Don't work all damn day today, OK?" Daryl asked. "Or if ya gonna…don't try ta take the fuckin' night shift."

Carol nodded her head and offered him one of her smiles before handing him his poncho back and picking up her lantern.

"Thank you…" she said.

Daryl shook his head at her. She knew he hated to be thanked for anything and she seemed to want to thank him for everything.

He waited around in the tower, not wanting her to see how stiff kneed he'd likely be when he started to walk out, and when she was gone he got up and took up his own lantern. He picked up his crossbow from the corner and threw his poncho over his shoulder and started stiffly down the steps.

He didn't know if Carol would find Glenn or not, but the question was quickly answered for him as he made his way out the tower and Glenn called his name, catching his attention. Daryl tried not to think about his full bladder screaming at him that there was a countdown going on before he could possibly make an ass of himself like he was four again.

"What d'ya want?" Daryl asked, walking toward the boy who was somewhat hovering in the shadows around the tower. Daryl glanced around.

"I'm really sorry," Glenn said. "I should have knocked or something…I just wasn't expecting…I mean I thought it might happen, but I wasn't expecting it…"

Glenn paused and Daryl decided it was too damn early in the morning to deal with Glenn and his shit.

"Spit it the fuck out, short stop. I gotta piss like a racehorse," Daryl growled.

"In the watchtower?" Glenn asked, raising his eyebrows at Daryl. Glenn smiled then. "You and Carol?"

Daryl made a face at Glenn. He was beginning to wonder if he was half asleep or if his bladder had drawn too much attention away from everything else, but the damn kid wasn't making one bit of fucking sense.

"I had watch with Carol," Daryl said. "Ya got a fuckin' problem?" He growled.

"No…I…" Glenn started.

Daryl didn't wait around to hear the rest of it. He started off toward the side wall of the prison to go and take care of his problem. He figured Glenn could work through whatever his issue was on his own.

"Ya got watch," Daryl called over his shoulder, not looking back at the stuttering Korean.

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Carol kept stretching her back as she cleaned up after breakfast. She figured she must have been in a slightly twisted position on the floor because there was a significant catch when she moved a certain way that wasn't one that she was used to from simply sleeping on the floor.

She felt a lot better, though, than she had. She was also almost humming to herself at the thought of waking up as she did. She hadn't realized, through the course of the night, that she was lying in Daryl's lap. She knew he was there…she remembered that from the night…but she'd never realized her position in the matter.

She felt almost like a school girl about the whole thing and she couldn't even begin to explain to herself why she felt somewhat giddy over the thought. It was really nothing. It didn't mean anything. She'd fallen asleep and Daryl had moved her so that she wouldn't be stiffer today than she already was.

Still, she'd sort of hummed to herself about it despite the fact that she'd come down from the tower to find that no one had started breakfast. She'd run into Alice who was headed up to do morning watch, and then she'd had to go and wake Beth and Lori to see if they could help her get the food going so that everyone would get a chance to eat something before it was technically time to eat lunch.

Carol had taken Daryl a plate and shook him awake. He'd told her to leave it and he'd eat it in a bit. She hoped he didn't mind eating cold oatmeal because even though it was cooked over such a roaring scrub fire as she could make, it wasn't going to retain its heat for long.

Finally, though, everyone had been fed and Carol was doing the dishes now…assorted ones from on the road and some they'd found in the prison, in one of the tubs they'd filled with water. At the rate she was going she figured she might get them all washed and dried and maybe get a small load of laundry done to stay on top of things before she needed to start lunch.

She wasn't sure where everyone else was or what they were doing, but somehow she'd ended up quite alone. She didn't mind it much, though, it gave her a chance to daydream a little and she didn't have to make idle chitchat since she wasn't really feeling up to it.

Carol got interrupted, though, just as she was finishing drying the dishes when Alice came bounding over.

"I've got break…on watch with Glenn," Alice said, slightly out of breath. Carol could tell that she'd run from the watch tower. "Can I help?"

"Almost done here," Carol said. "Besides…doesn't that defeat the purpose of break?"

"Yeah…well…" Alice said.

Carol straightened up and stood facing Alice. The look on Alice's face was hilarious. It was one of excitement or expectation or something, but Carol didn't know why it was being directed at her. She had nothing to offer her to fill any expectation and she certainly wasn't anything exciting for anyone.

"What?" Carol asked.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Alice declared. "Don't be coy with me! I've been on watch with Glenn. He told me already. I'm just pissed you didn't wake me up or something to tell me."

"Are you feeling OK?" Carol asked Alice, making a face. "Tell you what?"

Alice whistled at her.

"You're little whoopity doopity up in the guard tower…or the looooove shack? Glenn said he walked in on y'all this morning…congratulations. Not the breakfast of champions for me…but whatever trips your trigger," Alice responded.

Carol tried to figure out what in the hell Alice was talking about and what Glenn had said to her about what he'd seen in the guard tower.

Slowly it dawned on Carol as she put the pieces together from what Alice was saying. She brought her hand to her mouth and shook her head at Alice.

"Whatever Glenn thinks he saw, he didn't see…" Carol said. "Please tell me you haven't told anyone!"

Alice looked at her like she was crazy now and shook her head slowly.

"Glenn told me in the tower and I came straight here," Alice said, gesturing back toward the path she'd taken from the tower. "You mean you didn't…opt for a little extra nutrition to go with breakfast?"

Carol shook her head, still horrified.

"Nothing happened! I slept last night with my head on Daryl's lap…that was it. I slept! If Glenn says anything about this to anyone Daryl is going to have a fit! He's going to hate me!" Carol said.

Alice put her hand on Carol's shoulder.

"Glenn's trapped in the tower," Alice said. "Just me and him. He hasn't said shit to anyone…I'll clear it up when I go up there. Besides…I hardly think Daryl's going to hate you. He might figure that if you've already done the time…well…"

Carol shook her head again.

"Too soon?" Alice asked. She squeezed Carol's shoulder again. "It's fine…Glenn just thought he saw something and it wasn't anything. It's just fine…besides…you had your head in his lap, huh? Now can we stop pretending there's nothing there?"

Carol narrowed her eyebrows at Alice.

"You don't get it! There is nothing there!" Carol said. "There's just nothing there…that's all this was…it was just me sleeping. Daryl doesn't think of me like that."

Carol made sure to keep her voice down and glanced around nerviously, hoping they didn't have any snooping guests. Alice glanced around too.

"It's fine," she said. "We're alone. Everyone else is working on getting the guts of the prison cleaned out. I've sent them all on a wild goose chase to find the infirmary because if it isn't set up then I've got to get a makeshift place running before that kid of Lori's decides it's ready for a birthday party."

Carol nodded, relieved at least that they were alone and the others were busy. At least that meant that there'd be less damage control with Glenn and what he thought he saw. This could be cleared up and Daryl wouldn't even have to know that he'd thought that something had happened between them.

Carol felt her face burn hot. Daryl would be mortified if he knew that anyone thought that they'd done anything in the tower…even if they thought it had just been her doing something to him and he'd more or less just accepted it…he'd still be mortified.

"Can I ask you something," Alice asked.

Carol took a deep breath and wished her face would cool down.

"You keep saying…and I can't help but notice…that Daryl doesn't think of you that way…or Daryl would never want to be with you…or whatever else…but you never say that you don't think of him that way or that you'd never want to be with him," Alice said. "Just for the record, you have figured out that you like him, right? I mean you're not sailing that far down that river in Egypt are you?"

Carol looked at Alice and she felt just like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Alice was looking at her like she already knew and there seemed no sense in denying it. She was bad at lying to herself about it and she had the strange sensation that Alice, much like her friend Marie had been, could somehow read her thoughts. She doubted she'd be any good at lying to the woman.

Carol didn't respond, though. She figured silence was better in this case than admitting her guilt.

Alice nodded her head a little after a second.

"Have you even tried?" Alice asked, leaning in closer to her. "Do you even know?"

"I know…" Carol said.

Alice rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I don't mean more of your self-deprecating shit…holy hell I'd fuck you myself if you were into that kind of thing but then it would make you follow me around like a puppy and I'd get tired of telling you to get off my damn leg," Alice said.

Carol chuckled a little in spite of herself.

"There's nothing there, Alice," Carol said. "Leave it alone."

"You should try, you know? Test the water," Alice said. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I can promise you, that shit can pay off. I know…not a damn thing would have ever happened between me and Mel if it weren't for testing comfort zones."

Carol shook her head, chuckling a little.

"I'm sure that Daryl is nothing like your partner was," Carol said.

Alice smiled.

"Who the hell said Mel was the one that was like Daryl?" Alice asked. "I was scared shitless…she was the one that won me over. Only let me in on her damn little secrets like six years later."

Carol sighed.

"I couldn't…I wouldn't do anything like that…Daryl's not like you," Carol said.

Alice sighed this time.

"Fine…if that's how the fuck you want it…who am I to tell you otherwise?" Alice said. "By the way, though, I wasn't talking about walking up and putting his fucking dick in your mouth…I mean unless he's into that. The key is start small…know your audience."

Carol groaned a little. Only in her wildest dreams would anything like what Alice was proposing ever happen. She doubted she'd ever have the guts to even think of doing anything even slightly forward with Daryl. She wasn't made that way and she certainly didn't have any practice with it. That wasn't how things had gone with Ed at all. He'd been the one in charge of literally everything since the very first time he asked her out. She just wasn't that kind of woman…and Daryl would run in the other direction. It would wreck everything.

Alice was optimistic, but it was because she didn't know Daryl like Carol did and she didn't see things the way that she saw them.

Alice smiled at Carol.

"Get your ass back to doing whatever the hell it is that you do," Alice said. "Fucking forget about it if that's what you want to do. I've got an old Korean lady to stop from spreading rumors."

Carol watched as Alice trotted back off in the direction of the guard tower. For a moment longer she let her mind dwell on the possibility of the impossible, and then she turned and headed into the prison to distract herself with collecting laundry.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: OK, here we go. Another little chapter for you all. **

**Just a warning, since I'm playing with a "what would happen" scenario in something we haven't seen before, I've gone a little OOC perhaps because the scenario would necessarily call for being a little OOC. I've tried to make it as convincing as possible though. Hopefully it came out like I wanted. I hope to have more for you soon.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol had tried to ignore, for the most part, Alice's urgings that she consider making a move on Daryl. Every time that Alice tried to present this as something that seemed reasonable or something that Daryl might actually respond to in a positive manner, it was almost like a roller coaster ride for Carol internally.

On the one hand she was terrified to think that she was even beginning to entertain the idea. She was starting to think that Alice was getting into her head in some way because she kept convincing her…at least almost convincing her…that it would be a positive thing. She kept making her think that there was a chance that everything Ed had fed her through the years had all been lies and not the truth she'd finally accepted it to be. She let her mind drift, every now and again, to a place where she would actually find the courage to make this move and Daryl would respond to it positively...he'd even be happy about it…excited that she'd closed some gap for him that he hadn't been able to close himself.

On the other hand, though, she knew that Daryl really wasn't that way. He wasn't interested in her. The things that Alice said to try to boost her self-confidence were just that. They were things said in the interest of boosting the confidence of a friend and there was really nothing behind them. If Carol were foolish enough to even dream of trying anything, Daryl would probably freak out at best and get uncontrollably angry in the worst case scenario.

It was better to leave things as they were and be happy that she had his friendship at the very least. After all, the world had come crashing down and certainly these days there was no one who was so rich as to be able to throw away a friend…and especially not for just a shot at something physical that was really not likely to ever happen.

So Carol had gone on about her business as best she could and tried not to think about the things that were being suggested to her. It was clear, after all, that Daryl wasn't thinking of such things and they all had more than enough to keep them completely occupied.

Colder winter was closing in on them and they were still working to get the prison cleaned out. They'd found the infirmary, and though it had been better stocked than Alice had suspected it would be, it was in worse condition. Apparently it had suffered some kind of attack or been torn nearly apart by the very people that worked there. Of course, if things happened like Alice suspected, the infirmary was probably the central location of the breakout…or at least it was a place where a good number of Walkers would have been trapped because they'd have been trying, just like they'd tried at the hospital, to get control of the epidemic that they didn't understand.

That meant that some of the office space in a second cell block they'd cleared out was being converted into a type of makeshift hospital for Alice with the anticipation that she would have to deliver Lori's baby by caesarian section.

Runs were being made like crazy. Nearly every day at least two groups went out, typically Glenn and Maggie and Daryl and T-Dog, searching for everything they needed supply wise. It was a mad rush almost to hit neighboring towns and bring in food, medical supplies, and any amount of otherwise miscellaneous items they might be able to use.

Carol had employed Beth and Carl to clean out storage areas and get them organized so that everything they brought in had a place and it would be easier to get to it when they needed it. And anyone who didn't have something to do could be found working at cleaning out other portions of the prison, sorting supplies, moving and burning Walker bodies, and doing a wide array of other chores.

The prison was a busy place to be, and there simply wasn't that much time to be worrying about silly things like romances that simply weren't ever going to happen.

At least that was what Carol kept telling herself she believed…and for the most part it worked to keep her distracted.

Until one night, that is. There's always that one night, it seems, when things fall apart.

Glenn and Maggie had been on a very successful food run. They'd found a place that was some kind of special shopper's warehouse or something…loaded down with so much stuff…and ironically the place hadn't been cleaned out.

Glenn's report on the building was that the doors were busted out and it was in such a state of affair that it looked as though it was full of people when some kind of panic broke out about the Walkers, but the place hadn't been looted. That was good for their group, of course, and it had yielded up a good bit of food to help them get through the winter. Glenn and Maggie each had driven a delivery truck loaded to the brim back to the prison with various food items as well as a little of everything else the place had to offer that might be of use in the prison.

One of their spoils was the contents of what had been a pretty impressive wine section, apparently, as far as warehouse wines go. They'd brought back more than enough to kill everyone in the prison and instead of being stingy and simply passing the wine out with glasses, Maggie had immediately handed out bottles that night to everyone old enough to drink…and even some to Beth when Hershel had excused himself to go to bed early and not see what was about to take place…declaring that there was plenty more where that came from.

Carol had never been much of a drinker before. She'd had a glass here or there of wine, but it had never really appealed to her. Ed had been a drinker, and he'd been an angry drunk and it had always made the idea of it not something she enjoyed very much.

Yet tonight, for whatever reason, she'd been swept up in the smiles and the laughter of everyone else and she'd drank right along with them. She'd found a place on the floor in the common area, lounging on extra mattresses they'd drug out into the space to serve as couches, between Alice and Lori. Lori, of course, wasn't drinking, but Alice seemed to be enjoying herself right along with the rest of them.

Daryl was even joining in and sat across the room laughing about some story that he was telling T-Dog about something that happened when he'd been hunting with Merle. Carol tried to listen to it, but there was too much of a din going on with everyone else around her talking and humming with the first bit of comfort and security that they'd stopped to enjoy in a long time.

In fact, Carol couldn't remember a night that had even been a little like this since the night at the CDC…before they'd all known that the comfort there was to be so short lived.

Now, though, they had tested this comfort. The prison might not be Buckingham Palace…and it may eventually prove to be less perfect than it seemed in the moment…but for the time being it was almost so wonderful as to be some kind of fairyland.

The Walkers that remained inside the walls were contained and those that were outside the gates were hardly bothersome and easily controlled when someone needed to exit the gates. The towns around them were offering up everything that they could need to survive for a while. Their medical supplies was stocked. People took watch, but it was really more a formality than anything, and one they'd foregone tonight. In short, the place was almost some kind of utopia in the dark world that surrounded them, just outside the gates.

And as the night wore on, the pile of empty wine bottles in the middle of the floor grew. Some eyelids grew heavy and some speech grew slurred, but everyone remained in good spirits. Lori took Carl and excused herself to bed early, but the rest of them stayed up, the party raging on.

Carol couldn't remember ever feeling like this. She was sure the wine had gone to her head. She almost felt like if she moved her head too quickly, everything in the dim light seemed to move around with blurred light reflecting off of it. She felt freer too…almost like she wasn't even inside her own body. For the first time in months she felt none of the aches and pains that came from the work or the uncomfortable cots. She didn't feel any of the heavy ache that seemed to always hang, hunkered down somewhere, in her chest.

She felt nothing but light and happy and like she loved the world and everything and everyone around her. And so, when she considered that perhaps she might not drink anymore, she'd ignored the thought and continued to suck at the bottle that seemed ever full and always in her hand, though she thought she was theoretically sharing with Alice.

Carol became overcome, at some point, by a fit of giggling that she couldn't control. She wasn't even sure what had triggered it or what was so hilarious, but she'd overheard something that was funny drifting from one of the people around her.

In her dizzy fog she'd realized Alice was looking at her.

"What's so damn funny?" Alice asked, almost laughing.

Carol realized she'd scooted closer and closer to the woman as they sat there, cross legged, their knees touching on the mattress.

"I don't know…" Carol spat out through her chuckling.

"Are you alright?" Alice asked, leaning her face closer to Carol.

"I don't know…" Carol said. "I think so…"

She raised the bottle and took another drink. She was thirsty now and the wine was all she had, though it seemed to do very little for quenching her thirst before she felt like she wanted more of it.

"How are you feeling?" Alice asked.

Carol snickered at her face.

"I feel wonderful. You look so serious!" Carol said. "You need more wine."

Alice held up a bottle that was in her hand.

"Got plenty," Alice said. "Just do me a favor…if you feel like you're gonna blow chunks or something, smack me and let me know, OK?"

Carol nodded and rubbed Alice's head, running her fingers through her hair so that the woman made a face and moved her head enough that the tangles would follow Carol's fingers. Carol laughed.

"You're a good friend," Carol said.

Alice laughed at her.

"And you're really drunk," Alice said. "Enjoy, though, that's what it's about, right?"

Carol snickered and held her bottle up so Alice clacked the two together before turning her attention back to whatever she'd been listening to that Maggie was saying.

And Carol looked across the room for Daryl. He was up, though, and starting out the prison, his wine bottle and a pack of cigarettes in hand.

Carol didn't know why, but suddenly she had the urge to go after him. She wanted to talk to him…she hadn't talked to him all night. He'd been across the room, entertained, out of her reach. She tried to wrestle herself up, pushing upward on Alice.

"Where you going?" Alice asked.

"Outside," Carol said. "I want a cigarette."

"You smoke?" Alice asked.

"Not yet," Carol said.

She tried to get to her feet and Alice pushed her up from the bottom. Carol turned around once she was up and leaned down to pick up her bottle, but Alice was already holding up for her.

"Easy cowgirl," Alice said. "Keeping the bending over to a minimum and watch out when that first drag hits you from a cigarette or you will either go down or puke."

Carol giggled.

"Thanks Mommy!" She said.

Alice nodded her head.

"Mom just copped a free feel on your ass. Now go have fun," Alice said.

Carol realized, as she was getting up to go outside, Glenn and Maggie were getting up to head into their cells. They may be ready to call it a night, but she was still feeling pretty good, and not interested in turning in. For once she didn't feel like the old one around here.

Carol stepped outside the prison and the chilly night air hit her. She thought, for a second, that it sobered her up some, but then she continued on her journey to try to find Daryl and realized that her momentary sobriety had only been a ruse.

"The fuck ya doin' stumblin' 'round out here?" Carol heard Daryl's voice ask. She turned around in the darkness looking for him and found him only by the glowing end of his cigarette. She giggled and turned, heading toward him.

"Don't put that out," she said. "I can't find you if you do."

She heard Daryl snicker.

"Weren't puttin' the fucker out," Daryl said. "Just lit the damn thing."

"I want one…" Carol said, finally finding him and leaning against the wall next to him.

"Ya don't smoke," Daryl said.

He had her there. She didn't smoke. She always thought it was kind of gross and she didn't care much for the smell of smoke. Ed had smoked and he'd always smoked in the house so that her hair and everything she owned smelled like smoke. Everything she owned was also full of cigarette holes from Ed…and he'd even been kind enough to burn her more than once.

In truth, she'd never had interest in cigarettes…and most of it was owing to Ed.

But Daryl smoked, and he wasn't like that…and Alice smoked sometimes, though not with the frequency of Daryl. Even T-Dog smoked from time to time. Carol thought she might like to try it.

"I want one," she repeated. She lifted her bottle and took a drink from it and Daryl drank from his own and chuckled.

"Ya ever smoked before?" He asked.

Carol shook her head. She started laughing.

"What's so damn funny?" Daryl asked.

"I guess you get to bust a cherry…" Carol said, laughing. She immediately covered her own mouth, unable to believe that she'd dared to say a thing like that.

Daryl made a sound like he was sucking his teeth and then he chuckled a little.

"How much a' that shit'cha drink?" He asked.

Carol took another swallow. This bottle was pretty much full still…but she felt like this hadn't always been her bottle…or maybe it had and it was a magic bottle…but she knew that it had been full for a very long time and every time it got low it seemed to be full again. She didn't remember ever actually having finished it.

"Not much," she said finally, shaking her head and then realizing that the act made her feel like she was spinning.

Daryl dropped the cigarette he'd been smoking in the dirt and scuffed it out with his shoe.

"Hey!" Carol protested. "I said I wanted some."

Daryl chuckled.

"Damn! Not much my ass," Daryl said. "I'ma light another one. Ya ain't gettin' ya own if ya ain't never even smoked before, an' ya ain't smokin' off the last bit a' one 'cause it's stronger."

"I can handle it," Carol said. She smiled. She knew she was flirting, but for some reason she felt like she could do it. She felt like it was alright…and it felt good. It was something that she didn't let herself do, and now she was wondering why she hadn't. She was pretty damn good at it!

Daryl lit a cigarette and she watched him, unable to make out much more than his silouhette in the dark. He passed her the cigarette and she took it between her lips and inhaled, immediately feeling strangled and beginning to cough. She felt Daryl hook his arm around her waist and he took the cigarette out of her hand with a laugh.

"See? Ya ain't no damn good at this shit…better not ta even start," Daryl said.

When Carol finally got control of the choking cough, she realized she didn't want to smoke. It hadn't done anything but choke her. At least the wine made her feel warm and happy…and confident maybe. She took another swallow of it, slowly realizing that Daryl's arm was still looped around her waist.

In the darkness Carol worked to pull her courage together. She leaned into Daryl as he leaned against the building. She couldn't see him in the dark, but she thought she felt his breathing quicken. She leaned up and reached with her free hand, catching his face. She brought her lips to his, hoping that she had found them in the dark.

And as soon as she began the kiss, she realized she was the only one involved. The heat from her embarrassment coursed through her immediately, mixed with the heat from drinking the wine. She broke away as quickly as she could and kept her hand on the wall, feeling her way back toward the prison, leaving Daryl behind her.

When Carol burst into the prison common area there were two lit lanterns on the floor in the middle of the room, among all the wine bottles, but the people were gone.

Carol could hardly breathe. She'd was dumb and she'd wanted for just a moment to feel something with Daryl…to feel what being with him would be like. And it seemed like it was the perfect time for it. She felt so good, just before the kiss. The wine and the night and the feelings…it was all so perfect. She'd let herself believe, for one moment, the things that Alice had said and she'd kissed him, but he didn't want her. He hadn't kissed her back because he didn't want her and he never would.

Carol sucked down a few more swallows of the wine, her bottle a little lighter than before, no longer magically refilling itself, and she hoped that somewhere in that bottle was the ticket to returning to way that she'd felt before she'd foolishly kissed Daryl. She wished she'd just been content with the happiness she'd found in the bottle because it was gone now.

She sucked down one or two more swallows and put the bottle on the floor with the others, reaching her hand out to catch herself from falling face forward. She snatched up one of the lanterns and started to her cell, but stopped short.

Carol turned and pulled herself up, the steps, her hand on the bar that served as a railing. She made her way quickly to Alice's cell and walked right in, putting her lamp on the table beside the one that Alice had extinguished.

"The fuck?" Alice asked, rolling over and looking at Carol.

Carol sucked in a breath.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" Carol asked. Alice sat up in the bunk.

"What?" Alice asked.

Carol could feel tears biting at her eyes.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" She asked.

Alice scrunched her face up at her.

"Sure I do," Alice said. "I've told you I think you're pretty."

Carol had no idea what she was doing right now or what she was even doing in the cell, but there was never going to be anything with Daryl. Nothing was ever going to happen with him. He didn't love her. He cared about her as a friend, but one day he would move one and he would find somebody else…and he might not even want to be around her after the stunt she'd pulled tonight.

So if there was no chance of him loving her…of him ever loving her…wasn't it better to have someone who did? Even if it was Alice…

Carol sat on the bed and summoned up all the fermented courage that she had and she leaned in, kissing Alice. Alice didn't respond to the kiss and Carol pulled away, horrified.

And suddenly she was dizzy and she felt terrible. She regretted the wine…she regretted kissing Daryl…she regretted kissing Alice…she regretted the whole damn thing.

Carol shook her head, feeling the tears that she'd gotten back before welling back up. Alice caught her wrist.

"Don't take this wrong, but you taste like the feast of Bacchius straight up there, Carol," Alice said. "Come here."

Carol shook her head again.

"Did something happen with Daryl?" Alice asked.

Carol felt her head swimming and she couldn't believe all of this. She didn't know how to put it all in reverse though, how to go back. She pulled her shirt over her head, still fighting the tears that burned her cheeks. She wanted to say something, but please was the only word she got out of her mouth and then she felt pretty sure she was going to be sick.

Apparently Alice had seen it too. She got off the bed quickly and out of nowhere a trash can appeared in front of Carol.

"Go ahead…you gotta puke, go for it," Alice said. "Today or tomorrow…it's probably going to happen."

Carol fought it back. She didn't want to throw up, she just wanted to wake up and realize this had been some kind of bad nightmare. She wasn't even sure, now that she realized it, when she'd started crying. Alice moved the trashcan and pulled her down into the cot.

"Get in here," Alice said, tossing the cover over Carol and lying next to her. Before Carol knew really what was happening, the lamp blew out and she felt dizzy, almost like she was lying on a boat. The cot rolled and turned and spun and she reached her hand out to try and find the side to hold on. "Close your eyes," Alice commanded. "You're not going anywhere…it'll stop spinning…just close your eyes."

Carol felt Alice running her fingers through her hair slowly, her hot breath blowing on the side of her face, as she rested beside her, that smelled faintly of the wine that they'd been drinking. She wanted to protest the entire situation…she wanted to say something, but she couldn't even figure out what she wanted to say…and something about the feeling was soothing. Despite the rocking of the cot and despite the horror of the night that somehow felt distant and fuzzy in her mind…she felt herself leaving consciousness.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Well, I'm glad to see that you didn't seem to hate the last chapter. I thought I'd bring you a little something more here. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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When Carol woke up, her head was pounding. She cracked her eyes open. Her mouth was so dry that she could barely swallow. She slowly started to move, realizing that she wasn't in her cell. It didn't smell like her cell and as she moved she realized there was an arm wrapped over her and she had no shirt on.

"Good morning, sunshine," Alice said softly.

Carol rolled enough that she could see the woman who was obviously still half asleep. Only little pieces of the night before came to Carol when she tried to think about it, and what did come made her sure she didn't want to remember the rest. The act of thinking alone made her head pound worse. She struggled to swallow.

Alice hovered over Carol then, reaching around her to the floor and few minutes later she came up with a bottle of water that she cracked open and handed to Carol. Carol accepted it quietly and sat up. She'd meant to not be greedy about it, but the water was absolutely the sweetest tasting thing she'd ever put in her mouth and before she knew it, she'd sucked down the entire thing without even barely breathing and she was sad that it was gone.

"Thirsty, huh?" Alice asked with a smile.

Carol tried to nod a little, but really all she could do was wince at the pain. She really thought her skull might be trying to crack open.

"Put your head down," Alice said. "I'm going to get you some aspirin and something to eat…and more water. If I had some extra IV bags that wouldn't really be a bad idea…you tried to drink the annual exportation of Italy last night. Feel like shit yet?"

Carol wallowed her head against the pillow. She wanted to go to sleep again, but she really wasn't sleepy right now. She wanted to think that everything she was slowly remembering was a nightmare and she didn't even know what had happened that she couldn't even remember.

"My head's killing me…" Carol said. "Did we…uh…"

Alice smiled and shook her head. She kissed Carol on the forehead.

"If we had, you'd have remembered that shit, I promise," Alice said.

Alice crawled over Carol.

"You came in here…so damn drunk you were functioning on auto pilot. Kissed me…snatched your shirt off…and then you spent the rest of your night rolling around, drooling and rubbing those damn fine titties of yours all over me," Alice said as she got dressed and ran her fingers through her hair.

Carol groaned.

"I'm so sorry…" Carol said.

"Don't be," Alice said. "I may or may not have slipped a little feel in there myself…besides some shit was bound to happen. You were drinking that shit like a kid with a juice box and I know for a fucking fact you hardly ate a damn thing."

Carol rolled over on her stomach and hugged the pillow, considering closing her eyes and going back to sleep. At the moment she had no intention to leave this cell.

"Alice…" Carol said. "I kissed Daryl last night…outside."

Alice chuckled.

"Yeah…I figured some shit like that happened. Didn't go well?" Alice asked.

Carol felt her heart pound when she thought about it. It was mortifying.

"He's going to hate me," Carol said, "and it's all your fault for planting it in my head that it was a good idea."

Alice chuckled.

"My fault, huh?" Alice asked. "Couldn't have been that your timing was off Bacchus?"

"This is really terrible," Carol groaned. "He really is going to hate me. He didn't want to kiss me."

Alice knelt down on the floor, her face near Carol's.

"And you thought I hated you too. If you brush your teeth…because you have Walker breath…I'd kiss you right now, but maybe you caught him off guard? It doesn't mean he hates you," Alice said.

Alice stood up.

"Stay your ass here, it's your day off. I'm going to bring you something to eat so you can puke it back up. You've probably got enough acid in your stomach to eat right through it…sleep until I get back," Alice commanded, leaving the cell.

Carol groaned and pulled the blanket up over her head, wishing she could stay there forever and never come out to face her actions. She knew that she should get up and go help with breakfast, but honestly…for the moment…she just didn't feel like dealing with anyone.

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Daryl had a bit of headache from the night before, but it wasn't anything in comparison to that which some people were suffering. Glenn looked almost as bad as he had at the CDC and Rick looked like he was nursing one hell of a hangover himself. T-Dog seemed fine, though, and Daryl was spending the day with him tinkering in the shower room that they'd finally found to figure out if there was hope of actually getting the damn things running at all.

The place was disgusting and it smelled horrible. To say it needed to be cleaned and aired out would be an understatement and the fact that they could even stay in there was a testament to the fact that they hadn't partaken the night before like some people had.

Daryl didn't mind it too much, though, and he figured there wasn't any since in putting in the effort to make the place inviting if they didn't find out they were going to get the water going in there anyway.

He hadn't seen Carol all morning. He figured she was probably half dead somewhere and he'd seen Alice leaving the dining area with two plates. He wondered, honestly, if something had happened there. He wouldn't be half surprised if it had.

Carol had been drunker than he imagined she could get the night before. She'd damn near been falling down just trying to stand still and she'd actually gone so far as to kiss him…or at least try to kiss him. He wasn't positive that her clumsy fumbling in the dark outside the prison really constituted as a kiss or not.

It had surprised him when she'd done it, but then again drunks did all kinds of things that they didn't even understand and she'd gone and disappeared immediately. Daryl figured she realized what she was doing and was so damn sorry for it the only thing she knew to do was try to run the best she could in her drunken state.

He'd stood outside, finishing the cigarette he was smoking and debated about whether or not he should try to go after her…try to make sure she was at least alright, but he figured she probably didn't want to see his ass. If you accidentally kissed someone, he imagined, then you probably didn't want to see them later.

He had, though, when he'd gone in to deposit his bottle with the rest of the spent bottles, taken his lantern and stopped by her cell. He'd found it empty, though, and figured then that she'd gone to Alice's cell. Maybe that was where the hell she wanted to be any damn way. Daryl hadn't figured that was Carol's thing, but maybe it was…

Daryl hoped, though, that even if she regretted her drunken attempt to kiss him, she might get over it at some point and at least speak to him again. He hated the idea of losing Carol entirely just because she did something that he knew she didn't mean to do over too damn much wine. When people drink, shit happens…that was just an age old fact and he hoped it didn't cost him the friendship of one of the few damn people he'd ever given a shit about in his life.

"How's it going T?" Daryl heard Alice's voice echo through the shower room and he turned around from where he was tinkering near T-Dog.

"Might actually get these suckers working soon," T-Dog said. "Got any good ideas on where we could find some replacement generators, though? Some of the ones here are pretty badly damaged."

"Told ya," Daryl said from his corner, "ain't gotta get all the fucker's runnin' ta fuel what the hell we need 'em for. Ain't tryin' ta find enough fuel ta keep this whole damn place lit up an' runnin'. Just gotta be smart about where the hell we run 'em."

Daryl stood up the and joined T-Dog and Alice who were standing facing each other with Alice leaning against one of the dirty sinks in the room.

"He's got a point," she said. "I need enough juice running to the offices I'm using…we spare what we can here…if there's any leftover maybe we get some running water and some electricity going to the stoves in the cafeteria so we aren't cooking over an open flame?"

"Good damn case scenario we can afford to run some damn heaters when it's cold and some damn fans when it's hot. Keep that one block as a central ass location an' we're fuckin' sittin' pretty," Daryl said. "We'll damn near live like fuckin' kings."

T-Dog chuckled.

"Still wouldn't hurt to have backup," he said. "If anyone comes up with any really good ideas, we might want to check that shit out."

Alice shrugged.

"We'll have a look around," she said. "Medical buildings especially had to have emergency generators. You don't want the fucking power to go out and everyone that was there to bite the big one. There's bound to be some of those things still working."

T-Dog nodded.

"I'm going to get some water," he said, directing his attention momentarily at Daryl. "You want anything?"

"Water'd be good," Daryl said, wiping his forehead with the tail of his shirt.

T-Dog nodded and left the room, leaving Daryl alone there with Alice.

"What happened last night?" Alice asked, not moving from her position against the sink.

Daryl looked at her. He didn't want to say anything to anyone about what had happened with Carol. She was a pretty private person and she made a mistake. He wasn't some damn gossip like Glenn that would go publicizing that shit every damn where because he thought it was funny. Carol deserved more respect than that. She hadn't done a damn thing wrong but let a little alcohol go to her head and make her do some crazy shit. It'd probably happened to every damn person at one time or another.

"Ain't shit happened last night," Daryl said, turning his back on Alice.

"I mean when Carol kissed you," Alice said. "Don't be an asshole. I know she kissed you and you didn't kiss her back. I just want to know why the fuck you didn't. Did she surprise you or is there supposed to be something wrong with her?"

Daryl turned around and curled his lip at the woman.

"What the hell business is it a' yours? Thought ya wanted her any damn way…why would ya give a shit why I ain't kissed her?" Daryl responded.

"Let's be square," Alice said. "I like Carol…I really do…she's a good woman and I'd be with her if she wanted me, and I'd certainly fight like hell if I had to keep her from ending up with an asshole. So what I want to know is if you're an asshole or not. That's going to decide if we've got problems or not."

Daryl realized the woman was serious. He walked over to the sink beside her and leaned against it, fishing out a cigarette and lighting it.

"She ain't meant ta kiss me," Daryl said. "If ya so damn smart ya s'posed ta be some fuckin' kinda doctor then I reckon ya can tell when someone's drunk off their ass…"

Daryl paused and puffed at his cigarette, a little annoyed at the fact that the brunette not only thought that anything that happened in his fucking life was her business, but that she thought she could come searching him out about shit.

"'Sides…" he said, looking at the cigarette he was smoking before turning back to her, "I ain't the kinda fucker that would take advantage a' the fact she was fucked up like that. You might…but I wouldn't."

"Oh?" Alice responded. "Fuck you, Jethro! I didn't take advantage of shit. You know, I came down here to tell your sorry ass that she thinks you're pissed about that kiss…that she thinks you didn't want her to kiss you…but if you're just going to be a giant dick about it then I'll go right back to my cell. You enjoy your day rolling around in filth."

Alice moved around him then, headed for the doors that led out of the shower area. Daryl reached around quickly and caught her by the shoulder.

"What the hell ya talkin' 'bout?" He asked, spinning the woman around. "Carol ain't meant ta kiss me."

Alice growled and rolled her eyes.

"She meant to kiss you! Are you that fucking stupid?" Alice screeched. Daryl squinted at the sound echoing around him and making him realize he maintained a bit of hangover headache.

"She was drunk," Daryl said.

"A drunk man's actions are a sober man's thoughts," Alice responded. "She meant to kiss you…and when you didn't kiss her back…she came to me."

Daryl couldn't quite process the whole idea. Carol meant to kiss him? She had actually kissed him on purpose? Women like Carol were not the kind of women that kissed men like Daryl. In fact, the few women that Daryl had any experience with really weren't kissing him at all. They were more the rip your pants off and ride your dick without worrying about any of the touchy feely shit that might go along with it. And Carol certainly wasn't that kind of woman. Daryl felt his felt burn a little at even the thought of putting Carol in that kind of scenario.

"Ya sayin' that she ain't sore she kissed me?" Daryl asked, still holding onto the brunette.

Alice rolled her eyes again.

"She's not upset that she kissed you so much as she's upset that she kissed you and you didn't like it," Alice said. "And let go of me! Geez!"

Daryl realized he'd been absentmindedly digging his fingers into her shoulder and he dropped his hand then. Alice twisted her shoulder a little, frowning at him, and crossed her arms across her chest.

Daryl would be lying if he'd said he liked the kiss the night before. He hadn't liked it…he didn't remember having been kissed a whole lot in his life, but if that's all there was to it then he wasn't even sure he liked kissing. It had been wet, and fast, and it was so damn dark that she'd barely even kissed his lips and got more of his face than anything. No…he hadn't liked the kiss.

But he'd more than once imagined what it might be like to kiss Carol…and the kisses he imagined were never anything like the kiss the night before…and he liked those kisses.

Daryl let his mind drift for just a second and his damn dick wanted to have some kind of conversation with him about what the hell else he'd imagined. He quickly shifted his thoughts and his pants. And Alice crinkled her face up at him.

"Uhh…why do you mean always have to be touching your dicks?" She asked.

Daryl ignored her question.

"Why ya tellin' me this?" He asked her. He couldn't help but feel like this was some sort of trap. Why in the world would this woman be telling him that Carol was upset that he hadn't kissed her back?

Alice blew her breath out in a huff and rolled her eyes.

"Listen," she said. "Do you like her or don't you like her because I've got to know how the rest of my damn day is going."

"What the fuck's it gotta do with you?" Daryl asked.

Alice put her hands on her hips.

"Because, Daryl…if you like her and you're going to blow the dust off your balls and do some shit about it, then I'm going up to my cell…try to resurrect her from the dead…and start preparing her for the fact that that's what the hell is coming. If you don't like her…or you're not going to do shit about it…then I'm going up to my cell, try to resurrect her from the dead, and I'm going to do every damn thing in my power to make her forget that she even liked your ass," Alice said. "You decide how I use my powers here."

Daryl didn't know what to think. He realized his heart was pounding and he didn't even have a clue why. He didn't know what the hell to do in this situation and he was terrified that it was some kind of set up and he was just about to embarrass himself if he let himself be led, like an idiot, into some sort of scene where he thought Carol might actually be interested in him, only to be shot down when she couldn't believe he'd be that damn stupid.

Daryl swallowed.

"What the hell ya sayin' I'm s'posed ta do?" Daryl asked.

Alice raised an eyebrow at him.

"OK…let's simplify this shit for you," Alice said. "Do you like Carol…yes or no?"

"She…" Daryl started.

Alice put her hand over his mouth and he brushed it away quickly.

"I don't want to hear her interpretations of you and I don't want to hear your interpretations of her. All I want you to tell me is one damn word. Do you like her? Yes or fucking no?" Alice asked.

Daryl felt the pace of his heart pick up a few notches. He took a breath and fumbled around for another cigarette.

He nodded slightly, finally, as he found the cigarette.

"I guess so," he said, not wanting to come right out and admit it.

"It's three words, but it'll fucking do…." Alice said.

She scratched the back of her neck and huffed, looking around.

"Alright, look…here's how the hell this shit's going down," Alice said. "She smells like fermented ass right now and that's not going to change until I can get her bath…"

Daryl made a face and Alice raised her eyebrows at him again.

"Oh that bothers you?" She asked. "Bad enough to be a deal breaker because there's a whole fucking lot of the good, the bad, and the ugly that goes along with a relationship and if that's not where this shit is headed then I'm saving her the fucking heartache and going in there like a champ."

Daryl bit his lip and chuckled a little.

"Sorry?" He said.

Alice narrowed her eyes at him.

"Fine…so she needs a bath…and I don't know how she's going to be feeling later…but I'm going to try to get her down to her cell at least," Alice said. She pointed at Daryl after a second of thinking. "You're going to take her dinner." She smiled. "You're going to check on her and take her dinner…and then you're going to work your magic…or whatever the hell it is…and you're going to kiss her."

"I don't think…" Daryl started.

Alice cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth again and he pushed it off, on the verge of telling he'd break her wrist if she kept that shit up. He decided against it, though, for the moment.

"That's right," Alice said, pointing at him. "You don't think…go with that. Don't think about it. Just do what the fuck you have to do here and be ready to pucker the hell up come dinner time. Capisce?"

Daryl wasn't sure how to respond…he wasn't even sure what to think about the whole damn situation, but he nodded slightly and watched as the brunette turned around and headed out of the shower room. Daryl stood there, trying to process everything and wondered if he even believed what she'd said about Carol meaning to kiss him…and wondering if he could go through with kissing her. He realized that T-Dog wasn't back yet, and that he still had things that needed to get done today, whether or not this was real or some kind of sick ass joke by the woman, so Daryl started out the door to go and find T-Dog and see if he couldn't take his mind off the thought that he might be making an ass out of himself later and attempting to kiss Carol.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: And another little chapter for you all to thank all of you who reviewed for the last one and were curious to see how things would go when Daryl was supposed to kiss Carol. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl couldn't breathe as well as he remembered being able to breathe before by the time that the brunette offered him a plate as soon as he finished his dinner. She leaned against the table, a little closer to him than he would have liked.

"Could you run this plate to Carol?" She asked.

Daryl let his eyes dart around. He had somewhat fretted over this the whole day. He wasn't entirely sure this wasn't set up as some kind of trap for the woman's amusement. He didn't know what the hell she would get out of it, but his mind had offered him a few possibilities.

He realized no one was paying him or her any attention, though. Everyone was chatting or eating or doing whatever the hell it was that they'd been doing while he'd been eating.

Daryl grunted his acceptance of the task and got up. As he started out of the room they'd dubbed the dining room, the full plate in his hand with the fork balancing precariously on it, he'd started to feel very unsure about everything.

"Daryl, wait!" Alice called.

Daryl stopped in the common room, in sight of Carol's cell. He could see from here that there was a lamp burning in the cell, the light flickering, but Carol had hung one of the extra blankets across it so that there was nothing visible of the space other than the flickering light near the floor where the blanket didn't meet. It was the closest thing that any of them in the cells had to privacy.

Alice came up, standing directly in front of him, careful not to knock the plate out of his hand. She leaned closer to him than he was entirely comfortable with, so he held his breath a little wondering where in her life she'd picked up her lack of personal space.

"You'll need this too," she said, offering him a bottle of water. He took it, holding it in his free hand. "And this." Alice held up a foil wrapper and Daryl felt his heart pouding in his chest almost to the point that he thought it might stop entirely. He certainly didn't think he needed that but he couldn't seem to get his voice to come out of his throat. He just swallowed.

Alice reached around and without saying anything he felt her slip her fingers into his back pocket. He stood there, as stiffly as he could, and waited for her to move and back off of him. She patted his ass where she'd put the condom in his pocket, almost in an awkward kind of hug, and then she backed up a little.

"Just in case," she said.

Daryl stared at her for a second, unsure if he was supposed to move now or not. She winked at him and backed up a little farther.

"Just remember…don't think…" she said, turning and heading back into the dining room where the low din of chatter was coming from.

Daryl took the deepest breath that he could take and tried to will his heart to stop trying to beat at a frantic pace.

He had no idea why he felt the way he did right now. He wasn't a nervous person. He wasn't scared of too damn much. Hell he'd been in the middle of fucking Walker herds with the rest of them and he hadn't felt half as damn nervous as he felt right now. He didn't like the feeling one little bit.

He also didn't know why he was going through with this probably fatal plan. There was no telling what the hell was going to happen, but inch by inch his reluctant knees and feet were conducting him toward Carol's cell.

Finally, Daryl reached the cell and cleared his throat just outside the blanket.

"I…uh…I brought your dinner…" Daryl said.

"Come in…" Carol's voice came.

Daryl closed his eyes for a minute and wished to hell he didn't feel like he did right now. If this was a normal ass feeling before you kissed some damn body then he didn't understand what the hype was about and he was considering settling back down into not giving one damn about it. It was a lot better in his fucking dreams anyway. Shit happened there and he never felt one damn bit of this.

He pushed through the curtain and Carol was sitting in her bed, a basket beside her, and she was sewing.

She smiled at him, a little strangely, and she put everything in the basket and dropped it on the floor. Daryl walked over and handed her the plate, suddenly not really sure how this was supposed to work. According to Alice's so called plan he was supposed to kiss her, but suddenly he wasn't really sure how they were going to get from this point to that point.

Carol took the plate and shifted in the bed, leaning back against the side wall now instead of the one that was against the head of her cot. Daryl stood awkwardly there, the water bottle in his hand. He was calming down, oddly enough, for the moment and he considered just handing her the water and leaving the cell, abandoning the rest of this so called plan that Alice had made.

"Did you already eat?" Carol asked.

"Yeah," Daryl said, nodding his head.

Carol looked uncomfortable and Daryl wondered if it had to do with the night before. She sat up and put the plate on the little table beside her bed and then she looked at Daryl.

"Ya not gonna eat?" He asked.

Carol nodded and he saw her swallow. He reached out and handed her the water bottle in his hand and she took it, putting it next to the plate on the little table. She sat back again.

"In a minute," she said.

Daryl nodded a little. Now he really didn't know what the hell to do. He was out of shit to hand to her unless he dug around in his back pocket and found what the hell Alice had put there and he sure as shit wasn't offering her that to go with a plate full of mixed up canned goods.

Carol saved him from having to figure out what to do, though, when she patted the bed beside her.

"Sit for a minute?" She asked, her voice sounding strained and a little strange.

Daryl nodded and sat, his hands in his lap. Carol moved around, then, until she was sitting beside him, their legs almost touching, and Daryl looked at her legs. She was wearing blue and green plaid pajama pants that he'd never seen before. She must have gotten them out of one of the boxes of clothes that Maggie and Glenn had brought back from their various runs.

"Daryl…" Carol started. "About last night…"

Daryl felt his heart start thumping again like it had earlier and he figured if it was ever possible to hear someone's heart beating from a distance, this would be one of the times when someone would be able to hear his.

"Ya ain't gotta say nothin'," Daryl said. What he really meant was that he wasn't sure he wanted her to say anything. He wasn't sure that he wanted to hear what the hell she might have to say. He believed, at least until this morning, that it had been a mistake and that she'd kissed him only because of the alcohol and she'd regretted it. It made sense that she would feel that way…after all…he just wasn't the right kind of man for her.

But then Alice had gone and fucked with his head. She'd gone and said that Carol meant to kiss him and it was him that needed to kiss her back if he thought that's something he might like.

And he'd thought about it before. He'd be lying if he told anyone that he hadn't thought about it, but he'd probably lie if anyone asked him. He'd lied to himself plenty of times.

Now he wasn't sure what the right answer was, but he'd slowly been sinking into the thought of kissing her…slowly wondering what it would be like to kiss her…to really kiss her. Now he didn't know if he wanted to hear her say that she hadn't meant to do it.

"I was just going to say…" Carol started again.

Daryl turned toward her and decided that this was a situation of now or fucking never. He caught her under the chin with his hand and he leaned his head in, all too late realizing he didn't really know what he was doing or feel confident in what the hell he was about to try to do, and he brought his lips to hers. It was only once their lips were touching that the full impact of what was happening hit him.

Her lips were so damn soft against his and then she opened her mouth a little, sighing against his mouth and he felt her tongue rub against his lip, so he opened his mouth enough to grant her access. And suddenly she was taking control of the kiss and Daryl thought his mind was going to explode.

Her tongue was in his mouth, teasing his, and she tasted like the peppermint toothpaste they had. Daryl dared to move his own tongue, playing back with hers and gliding it into her mouth. He back up a little when he accidentally clacked their teeth together a little and she came up from her position, pulling away long enough to get her knee under her, and she brought her mouth back to his.

Daryl felt her hands go into his hair, tugging at it and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with his own hands. He wrapped them around her and pulled her closer to him.

He could barely breathe but it was the most amazing feeling he'd ever had. He felt like he didn't want it to end…like he wanted to be closer…have more…but he didn't know if he dared for anything else. He had only prepared himself to kiss her and honestly he had never prepared for it to even be this kind of kiss.

Daryl pulled at Carol and she almost fell into his lap, breaking the kiss and making him realize, somewhat embarrassed, how painfully tight his pants had become over just a fucking kiss. Daryl panted and tried to get his breath. He looked at Carol and she was wrapped tight in his arms, looking at him, her mouth still partway open and her breathing labored like his own.

And suddenly Daryl felt panicked and like he didn't know what the fuck he was doing in this situation and how the hell he'd gotten himself here. He loosened his grip on Carol and pushed her off of him a little until she was sitting in front of him again instead of leaning into him. She was still staring at him, her big blue eyes dancing back and forth, and her mouth remained partially open like she wasn't even processing fully what was going on either.

Daryl swallowed and got up. He didn't know what to say. What in the hell was he supposed to say after that? Thank you for the kiss? Enjoy your plate full of random shit? I'm sorry but I don't know what the hell to do right this minute and I've really got to go and take care of this painful ass boner I've got just like some kind of fucking fifteen year old?

He didn't know what to say, so he stood there a moment.

"I…uh…" He started.

Carol wasn't helping. She was just sitting on the bed staring at him. She'd closed her mouth now, and she had her fingertips against her lips that were significantly redder than they'd been when he'd come into the cell.

"Fuck!" He spat.

Daryl ran his hand through his hair, not sure what to do. He felt like he needed to get out of there, though, and he needed to think about this shit. He couldn't do what the hell he was thinking about doing. Carol wasn't that kind of woman and they were in a fucking prison with a whole room full of nosy ass people just feet away. It didn't matter that Alice had been so damn bold as to slip a fucking condom into his pocket…Carol wasn't that kind of woman and he didn't know what the fuck else to do now that he'd kissed her and she'd kissed him back like that.

"Fuck!" He said again, turning and leaving the cell.

Daryl was already kicking his own ass by the time he made his way out of the prison in the dark. He walked through the yard and circled around behind the back of the building, around to the part of the yard where no damn body ever went, unfastening his pants as he went.

He leaned against the building, supporting himself with his left arm while he stroke himself, his forehead against his arm. What the hell had he been fucking thinking in the first place? He'd gone into her cell without so much as a fucking thought of what he'd do besides kiss her…and then it was all just too damn much and he didn't even know what the fuck to do.

When he came and collected himself, Daryl felt like an asshole and he felt ashamed of himself. He started back around the prison, lighting a cigarette.

Now he'd really fucked up…and he wasn't sure what the hell to do about it. His mind felt a little clearer at the moment and suddenly he wished it wasn't because it was taunting him with what a dick he'd been. He'd gone in there…kissed her…freaked the fuck out…and then he'd jacked off behind a prison like a teenager hovering in his bedroom? What the fuck was that?

Daryl groaned to himself. It was the end of the fucking world and for the first time in his life he was going to decide it was a good damn time to give a shit about women? What amazing fucking timing.

Except it wasn't that he gave a shit about women. It was that he gave a shit about a woman…one woman…the only one he ever remembered giving a shit about.

And until today he'd never entertained the fact that she might give a shit about him…but now he had let himself think it was possible. Now he'd gone there in his mind and he'd liked what he'd seen…and then he'd gone and fucked it up royally.

Daryl finished his cigarette and tossed the butt to the ground, grinding it out with his shoe.

He didn't know what the fuck he was doing, but he felt like he couldn't leave this shit like this. He took a deep breath and eased back into the prison. As he came into the common area and noticed people filing their asses in there…getting ready to play cards and chat and shit…he tried not to let it show that he was freaking the fuck out and that it was even worse because they were all there and he wanted them all to vanish for a while.

Alice was sitting beside Hershel on one of the mattresses and she glanced at him, throwing him a questioning look. That meant that in the time he'd been gone she hadn't found out what the fuck he'd done.

He turned his head quickly and made his way to Carol's cell without speaking to anyone. He hoped that none of them noticed him or paid attention to the fact that he walked straight damn into her cell without so much as announcing his presence.

When Daryl came into the cell, Carol was in the bed, the cover pulled up so that he couldn't see anything of her at all except her outline under the cover. He stood to the side a minute. He figured if he felt like shit right now, which he did, he deserved every damn bit of it.

Daryl walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, but Carol didn't move. He swallowed hard and tried to figure out what to do. Finally he reached his hand out and put his palm flat against her back.

"Carol," he whispered, not wanting to be overheard by everyone in the common area. "Can I talk ta ya?"

"Go away, Daryl," Carol said from under the cover. "It's OK…just go away."

Daryl thought her voice didn't sound right and it caught in his stomach.

"Can ya fuckin' look at me?" He asked.

Carol rolled a little then and faced him, pulling the cover down just enough so that he could see the top of her head and her face down to just below her eyes.

"Why?" She asked. Her eyes were red. "It's fine…we both…it's fine…"

"Ain't fine," Daryl said. "Fuck…I don't know what I was…"

Daryl let his voice trail off and he continued to keep his eyes locked on hers for the moment. She was looking at him, but he hated only being able to see her eyes so he moved his hand and pulled the cover down low enough to see the rest of her face.

"Did'ja want me ta do that?" He asked.

Carol raised an eyebrow at him.

"Which part?" She asked.

Daryl sighed and shifted his shoulders a little, feeling the muscles tighten in them at the thought that everyone in the common area might be able to hear even a sound of what they were saying. He was almost afraid that the people in there could hear his thoughts.

"Me kissin' ya," Daryl said softly.

Carol chuckled and closed her eyes for a minute. When she reopened them her entire facial expression changed. She was wearing the look that she gave him whenever she was being really nice to him. The soft smile.

"What part of my reaction…Daryl…" Carol started and then broke off. "What part of it…made you doubt that I wanted it?" She finished.

Daryl sighed a little, trying to figure out how to untangle the mess in his stomach.

"I'm sorry I run out…" he said. He shook his head. "I didn't know what the fuck to do," he said, trying to keep his voice low.

Carol nodded and sat up a little.

"It's OK, Daryl," Carol said. "I understand. You didn't mean for it to happen…I'm not mad at you."

Daryl knitted his eyebrows together.

"I meant ta…well I meant ta kiss ya," Daryl said. "I just didn't mean for that other part ta happen."

Carol looked at him, crinkling her nose a little. Then she smiled, her eyebrows shifting.

"You meant to kiss me?" She asked, matching his low voice.

Daryl nodded and Carol looked at him confused. He didn't know what else to do, so he leaned down, meeting her again and bringing his lips to hers. She seemed to hesitate at first, but then she kissed him back. It wasn't the same kind of kiss as before. It was softer this time, and Daryl was surprised when she moaned a little into his mouth and nipped at his lip as they pulled apart.

"What does it mean?" Daryl asked when they pulled apart.

Carol brought her fingertips back to her lips like they had been before. She shook her head a little.

"What do you want it to mean?" She asked.

Daryl wasn't sure what he wanted it to mean. He wasn't sure about any of this shit right now. He didn't even feel like himself and he didn't feel like this was real. The whole damn situation seemed more like something that would happen while he was asleep than anything that had ever actually happened to him.

"I don't know," he admitted.

Carol smiled at him again, softly, and nodded her head a little.

"Then it doesn't have to mean anything, Daryl," Carol said. "If you don't want it to mean anything…then it doesn't have to."

"I didn't say I didn't want it to," Daryl said. He felt like he was at a damn loss here. "I said I don't know what I want it to mean."

Carol nodded her head slightly again. And she moved her arm out from under the cover and rubbed at his arm that was propping him up.

"Then you think about it," Carol said. "And you just let me know when you know…" She let her voice trail off and she sighed visibly. "OK? You let me know."

Daryl wasn't sure how to respond, but at least he didn't feel like the asshole he'd felt like when he was jacking the fuck off behind the prison. He didn't know, though, what he wanted exactly…or even how the hell to figure that out.

He nodded in response, though, finally, and he stood up from the bed.

"Ya need ta eat," he said, noticing she hadn't touched her plate.

Carol smiled again, chuckling softly.

"I will," she said, nodding again.

Daryl lingered for a second.

"Goodnight," he said, not knowing what else to say.

"Goodnight, Daryl," Carol said.

Daryl left the cell then, sighing to himself, and went directly to his perch, bypassing the others. He needed to think about this shit…to process it. He needed to figure out what the hell this was all supposed to mean and what the hell he was supposed to do with all of it. He was about as fucking exhausted as he'd been in a long damn time. For a day of not doing much, as far as days went at the end of the world, he felt like this had been the most draining one he could remember.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: OK, I have another chapter for you here. This one is a little bit longer than usual, but I had several things that I wanted to get in there so it had to accommodate them. I hope you'll forgive me.**

**As always, I thank you for your reviews and support. I'm always thrilled to get them and I'm glad to see that so many of you seem to be enjoying the story! **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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"You've got to go in and take a fucking nap!" Alice declared, following Carol through the yard with two full buckets of water in her hands.

Carol turned around glancing over her shoulder at her friend and wondered if she should offer to take one of the extra buckets at least part of the way.

"You're the one that looks like you need a nap," Carol responded.

"You're wearing my ass out!" Alice declared. "Gotta keep running after you all day long."

"You want me to take one of the buckets?" Carol asked, dropping back to match her steps beside Alice's.

"No, it doesn't have a single fucking thing to do with the buckets and you know that," Alice declared. "You need to take a damn nap so you don't fall asleep during night watch."

"I don't have watch," Carol said, shaking her head.

Alice made a growling noise at her.

"You don't, but Daryl does…so that means you do…and you need a nap," Alice said.

Carol sighed. She'd told Alice this morning that Daryl had kissed her and the woman hadn't seemed too surprised so Carol was starting to think that she had something to do with it.

"I told you," Carol said, lowering her voice, "Daryl doesn't know what he wants the kiss to mean…"

"What the fuck does it have to mean, Carol?" Alice asked. "It's a kiss! Hell it doesn't have to mean one damn thing…kissing is like a gateway drug. It's not all that important…it's not the big stuff…it leads to the big stuff."

Alice chuckled at her and Carol rolled her eyes.

"Why is this so important to you?" Carol asked.

"The question is why isn't it more important to you?" Alice asked. "Hell…I'm going to need to borrow a pack of cigarettes from Daryl because if you two finally hook up I'm going to need to smoke. You're like trying to get two damn kids to do something that you know they're going to like. You're almost fighting with everything you've got in you not to do it, but if you'd just get your ass on the ride then I'll have to buy you fucking ice cream to get you to leave the park at all."

Carol laughed.

"Are you just doing this because you're scared I'm coming back to your cell?" Carol asked.

Alice stopped and put the buckets down, leaning over and holding her legs at the knee to get her breath. Carol realized that they were walking faster than they normally did and carrying two buckets of water that could be quite the workout. Carol stopped and put her bucket down, stifling a laugh as Alice looked up from her position.

"Listen," Alice said. "I'm going to tell you this one damn time. You ever come into my cell with your brain not saturated with about ten gallons of the finest warehouse wine and pull your damn shirt over your head…rubbing your tits on me and asking me please…and I'm going to tell Daryl right quick like to go and fuck himself. Until then…at least let me live vicariously knowing some damn body's getting some."

Carol blushed and covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her head. Alice laughed at her and heaved up the buckets, walking farther away than she had to in order to keep Carol from taking the one she made a grab for.

"I really don't think it's like that…" Carol called at Alice who was walking faster now in an attempt to keep her from grabbing the buckets.

Alice laughed, her voice strained by losing her breath.

"Shut up! Christ! Go take a nap…and warm some of this water up…baths make everyone feel pretty," Alice said.

Carol dropped back, shaking her head and walked slowly with her bucket as she saw Alice bounding ahead, spilling little bits of the water here and there.

Carol couldn't believe that she was really considering going through with the idea of trying to seduce Daryl in some way. She was not a seductress. She'd never been a seductress. Ed would never have stood for her even playing as though she were with him…and she certainly had never done anything like that elsewhere. The closest thing she'd done to even attempting seduction was the incident that Alice was teasing her about when she thought it was a good idea to just take her top off…and that was hardly seduction. It was more like "I have these…do you want them?"

Carol sighed and made her way the rest of the way to the prison to help with dinner and getting bath water ready. She figured she could skip the nap…and maybe while she worked she could decide if she had the guts to try anything more than awkwardly glancing at Daryl across the tables.

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After dinner, Carol went straight to her cell with the excuse that she really had some mending that she wanted to get done as soon as possible.

Really she was nervous about the fact that she was considering going up to the watch tower after everyone went to bed to "talk" to Daryl about what happened. The more she thought about it, the more her heart nearly pounded out of her chest with the idea that she might go up there and be bold enough to try to suggest something more to him than just a kiss.

But Alice was right…and Daryl might need the nudge. Carol was almost ashamed at how bad she wanted to be with him. It wasn't proper to think about those kinds of things, but she couldn't help it. Still, she didn't know if she had the ability to actually gather up her nerve and go through with it.

She'd watched him over dinner and he'd kept glancing at her, watching her. Their eyes kept meeting and they'd held the gaze a couple of times, but it was like neither of them knew what to do with it. Carol knew that she didn't know what to do with it and Daryl looked a little uncomfortable and like he didn't know what to do with it.

And now she was sitting alone in her prison cell, pretending to be doing some kind of mending when she actually wasn't paying one bit of attention to the clothes in her hands, and she was trying to figure out how to do something entirely out of character for herself…something she had no idea how to even go about.

"Knock, knock…" Alice said, popping her head into the curtain.

Carol looked up at her and sighed.

"You look like you're on the verge of a stroke," Alice said, sitting down on the end of the bed.

"I can't do this," Carol said, shaking her head. "It's not me…I'm not…I'm not a seductress."

Alice smiled.

"Every woman is a seductress, Carol," Alice said. "All it takes is the right person looking. If you want to do this, then you'll be great at it…I saw how he was looking at you across the table tonight. He just needs a little nudge in the right direction and then you owe me a pack of cigarettes."

Carol laughed.

"I really don't know…" she started.

"What the hell are you wearing up there?" Alice asked.

"Well, this," Carol said.

Alice frowned.

"That's lovely," Alice said.

"You don't have to be mean about it," Carol said, looking at the dress she was wearing.

"No, I'm not," Alice said. "It is lovely. Makes me think of my Grandma. She was a sweet old woman…poor thing died when she was like ninety five…I think that was the dress she was wearing."

"Ah!" Carol scoffed. "Thanks! That really helps!"

Alice giggled.

"I'm talking about your outfit, not you. Now get those green cargo pants that you've got…and you've got to have at least one little tank top or some shit," Alice said.

"It's cold out there," Carol protested.

"And if you play your cards right you won't be cold for long. You can wear that big ass coat you've got…just put it on," Alice said.

Carol got up from the bed and started digging through the clothes she did have, blushing to herself. She pulled the dress over her head.

"Bra off…you don't need that and it's too complicated for Daryl any damn way," Alice said. "And for goodness sake ditch the damn granny panties. Go commando if you don't have anything better than that."

Carol blushed again. Her clothes weren't very nice, and they certainly weren't seductive. The ones that she had from the beginning were ones that had to pass Ed's inspections, and that mean that they better not show anything at all. Anything she'd acquired since then had come out of the suitcases and boxes of clothes they'd gotten and they always went through the clothes "communally" which mean that she'd pretty much just ended up getting whatever didn't fit anyone else or whatever no one else wanted.

The cargo pants that Alice was referring to were the only article of clothing she had that actually fit her and she didn't know what had come over her to snatch those, but she'd just wanted to have something that fit well so she'd been greedy and gotten into the box and snatched them before Maggie could see them. Normally, though, she just let the young girl have the nicer things that came out of the clothes piles. She looked better in them anyway.

Carol dug through her underwear and tried to find anything that could be considered nice or sexy in any way, but cotton briefs were all that she had and most of them weren't in the nicest condition ever. It wasn't like they were raiding Victoria's Secret stores and, like with everything else, she didn't fight to get the nice underwear when they did find it.

"That's it…nope…just forget about them…they just get in the way," Alice said, frowning at the pile of underwear that Carol heaped on the bed.

"I can't just go without anything on…" Carol said.

"Oh yeah you can," Alice said. "Less to find later if you know what I mean."

Carol bit her lip and stepped out of her underwear. She was used to Alice seeing her naked by now, so she started to shimmy into the pants, working to control her breathing as her nerves grew incrementally with the planning and the passing of the time.

"If this shit goes like I think it's going to go," Alice said. "Next time we conquer lawn maintenance. There's got to be at least one damn razor somewhere in that supply room."

"Oh God! You're looking!" Carol said, feeling her face get hotter as she buttoned the pants.

Alice laughed and leaned back on the bed.

"Hell yeah I'm looking…I'm not dead," Alice said.

"Is it terrible?" Carol asked. She felt like her whole body was radiating the heat of her embarrassment.

Alice shook her head, chuckling a little.

"Nah…everybody likes to do a little bush exploration now and again. It'll be fine. He's going to be so damn excited that he won't even notice," Alice said. "And no one I know has ever sent a hot woman packing because she happened to be a little behind on the lawn care."

Carol shook her head and tried to focus on finding a shirt that would be acceptable. Again it was a hassle, but she finally found a tank top of sorts that would do and pulled it over her head.

"Well?" She asked.

"Beautiful," Alice said. "Now give me a little dance and I'm out of here…I need some sleep and you have a date. I can hear voices dying down in the common area already."

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Daryl was sitting up in the guard tower. He'd been up there about an hour already and he was bored. His ass was falling asleep on the hard boards so he got up walked around a moment, looking out at the prison yard.

He hadn't figured out yet what to say to Carol about the kiss or even how the hell to go about getting another one. He didn't know how everyone would react if they knew about it and he didn't really want to find out. They'd probably think that it was terrible that he'd dared to kiss her like that. None of them would be under any illusions that Daryl was the kind of man that Carol needed in her life and he couldn't blame them if they thought he was wrong for doing it.

But hell if he hadn't liked the kiss. He'd liked it so damn much that it had driven him behind the fucking prison and then that night he'd had another of his dreams, even more detailed than before, about Carol. He knew it was wrong what he was thinking about her, but he couldn't help that his mind…as well as other parts of his anatomy…just couldn't help but seem to go there on their own without listening to reason when he tried to explain that it probably just wouldn't work.

When Daryl heard the door to the watchtower squeak open, he turned around quickly, expecting maybe Rick to come up. Rick was worried about the prison and worried that the safe place that it seemed to be was something that was going to fall apart at any second.

The closer Lori got to when that baby was supposed to be born, the more aloof she got, the more distance there seemed to be between her and Rick, and the more panicked Rick seemed to be about every little thing when he bothered to clue into what was going on around him for more than a minute. Daryl figured he might come up to check on watch or something or ask Daryl for the millionth time if he thought the fences that were doing a fine job of keeping the Walkers out would continue to keep them out.

It wasn't Rick, though. When Daryl turned around his eyes fell on Carol. She was standing there with her coat on, looking at him in the semi darkness of the lamp lit tower.

"Didn't know ya had watch tonight," Daryl said. It was probably the dumbest thing he could say given the circumstances surrounding them, but it was all the hell he had right now.

Carol shook her head at him.

"I don't," she said. "I came up here to see you…to talk to you."

Daryl swallowed hard and felt his heart pick up its paces in his chest.

"What'cha wanna talk about?" He asked.

Carol took off her coat and put it on the floor in the corner where Daryl had his poncho folded up and his crossbow resting. Daryl knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. She was wearing just a tank top under it and it was far too damn cold for her to be dressed like that since he knew that she was cold natured.

Carol didn't say anything, but she walked closer to Daryl, her chest heaving. She stopped in front of him, looking up at him and he swallowed hard. He really wanted to kiss her again, like he had the night before, but he was afraid to do it. He didn't want to feel the need to go bolting from the room again.

Carol surprised him, though, when she reached up and pulled his head down, bringing her lips to his softly. Daryl realized that she was echoing his own feelings on the kiss so he sunk into it and allowed himself to wrap his arms around her. He stopped for a moment, realizing through the thin fabric of the shirt how thin she was. He could feel her bones. He pulled away and frowned.

"What?" Carol asked suddenly. "What's wrong?"

Daryl saw the panic in her eyes and realized she thought he was frowning at the kiss. Honestly he hadn't meant to actually frown at all.

"Ya bony," he said. "Need ta eat more…I seen ya givin' ya shit ta Carl, Beth, Lori…Hell I reckon ya give more damn food away than ya eat an' now I'm pretty damn sure of it."

Carol bit her lip and looked at him, her forehead wrinkling. Daryl shook his head.

"Don't worry 'bout it," he said. "Just stop givin' ya fuckin' food away."

Carol looked at him, still not responding and he brought his lips back to hers, wanting the kiss. He liked these kisses. These kisses were what he'd always thought they'd be like in his mind.

Daryl pulled away a little when he realized he was getting hard and his pants were getting uncomfortable. He mentally cursed himself for letting his fucking mind drift the way it did when he was just trying to hold onto the kiss a little longer.

Carol pulled back, though, when Daryl pulled away and he wasn't expecting it. As she rubbed herself against him he hissed to himself and realized that there was no way she could have gone without noticing, at least a little, the fact that his little amigo was trying to bust out of his pants against his better wishes.

Daryl closed his eyes, expecting Carol to pull away from him or at the very least make the facial expression at him that Alice made every single time he even adjusted himself in her presence. Carol did pull away a little, but it wasn't with disgust.

"Do you want…" she started.

"What?" Daryl asked.

Carol sighed and Daryl couldn't believe it when she reached down and yanked her top over her head, dropping it to the floor. She stood there, her arms at her side and her eyes clenched shut, her chest heaving.

And if Daryl had thought he had any chance at all of getting himself under control, that shit was gone now. Her fucking breasts were amazing, but he didn't know what the hell to do with her standing there like that.

"Ya been drinkin'?" He asked, worried that she might have gotten back into the wine, in which case this could be just one big accident.

Carol cracked one eye open at him and chuckled a little.

"No," she breathed out. Daryl could tell that she was having trouble with her breathing.

"Do you want…" Carol started again. She stopped and closed the little space between them. She took Daryl's hand and the next thing he knew she had put his palm over her breast and she leaned up to kiss him. He squeezed the soft flesh of her breast and she moaned. He had to try to think of everything disgusting he'd seen since the rotting corpses started moving about not to blow a load in his pants.

Carol reached down and started to unbutton her pants.

"Do you want me to leave?" She asked.

Daryl shook his head and swallowed again.

Carol closed her eyes and he thought she was focusing on breathing because she kept blowing out deep breaths. He tipped her head back up and kissed her again.

"Are you going to take anything off?" She asked when they broke apart.

Her hands went to the buttons on his shirt and she started unfastening them. Daryl reached up and put his hands over hers, stopping her. He didn't like to take his shirt off for anyone. He tried to wear it at all times if he could. He hated knowing that anyone was looking at the marks that his asshole of a father had left behind. The women he'd fucked in the past were too strung out to give a shit if he still had most his damn clothes on or not.

Carol looked at him, her eyes wide.

"It's OK," she said softly. "I won't talk about yours…and you won't talk about mine…"

"Ya don't know what'cha gettin' into," Daryl said, keeping his hands over hers. He couldn't see anything wrong with her in the lamplight that he would have "talked about" but she didn't have any clue what the purplish scars he had looked like.

"I think I know exactly what I'm getting into," Carol said, not breaking eye contact with him.

Daryl moved his hands and let her strip off his shirt. He held his breath, waiting for a gasp or anything from her, but she didn't say anything. She trailed her arms around him, hooking her hands over his shoulders and rubbed her bare breasts against his chest making his erection surge again.

Carol stood there planting soft kisses on his chest for a moment before she backed up and came out of her shoes and pants. Daryl got out of his shoes and started out of his pants before he glanced up and realized she wasn't wearing any underwear. He didn't often wear underwear because it was a hassle…and he wasn't wearing any now…but he'd just always thought that women…especially women like Carol…weren't running around without underwear on.

He stopped, unable for the moment to even remember how to get out of his pants. He might not have remembered, either, except he noticed that Carol was visibly shivering and it brought him back to what he was doing.

Daryl shucked out of his pants and went to get his poncho, laying it out on the floor. It wasn't much, but hell at least it was better than the dirty concrete of the watch tower.

Carol didn't say anything. She just came and sat on the poncho and Daryl kneeled down next to her, leaning into kiss her, already feeling like he'd explode. She kissed him deeply and when his hand went to her breast she reached her own had to touch him. He hissed at her.

"Don't!" He said. "I ain't no damn good at this shit an' I ain't even holdin' it together now."

He didn't mean to speak as gruffly as he had, but he knew that his voice needed to be urgent if he was going to get her to understand that he really wasn't sure he was any damn good at this at all. The few times he'd even done this weren't exactly award winning he was sure. Carol looked a little shocked by his voice, though. She nodded at him, though, releasing part of the breath that she'd sucked in when he'd called out.

"Go ahead," she said.

"What?" He asked.

She nodded at him again, offering him the same smile that she reserved for when she was being nice to him.

"Go ahead…it's OK," she said. "We'll do it how you want…whatever's the best."

Carol leaned back on the blanket, on her elbows and looked at Daryl and he swallowed, really not sure what to do now. She lie all the way back then, looking up at him, and spread her legs, her knees bent.

"Come on," she urged. "It's OK, Daryl."

Now Daryl was sure his heart had to be in good condition, because if it wasn't he would have had a heart attack right there on the spot. He remembered, suddenly, the condom that Alice had put in his pants pocket and even though, for just a moment, he thought it was disgusting he hardly ever changed his fucking pants, tonight he was glad for it. He reached over and pulled it out of his pocket, crawling back over and hovering away from Carol while he put it on. When he hovered over her, settling his hips down between her legs, she looked at him with a bit of a smirk on her face.

"Alice," he said, surprised at the fact his voice was even coming out.

"Oh," Carol said. She smirked again. Daryl kissed her once more and squeezed her breast…the only things he was really sure about doing in this situation and honestly that was because she'd given him explicit permission to do them, and he hoped that he was going to do well enough at this that she wasn't disappointed. It was daunting to think of having sex with a woman who wasn't out of her mind on some substance.

Daryl lined himself up with her and pushed into her, almost choked by the tightness of her. She yelped at him and wrapped her legs around him quickly, damn near pinning him down. Daryl grimaced, realizing from her facial expression that might not have been the best first move he could have made.

"Alright?" He asked.

Carol smiled a little and a moment later she let out the breath she was holding and he felt her relaxing. She loosened the grip on him she had with her legs.

"Yeah," she said. "It's OK…" she repeated. "Go ahead."

Daryl let himself go and was surprised when she started to bring her hips up to meet his in the thrusts, growling a little in her throat. He tried to keep his pace slow, not really knowing what she needed, but finally he couldn't hold back much longer. He let his speed pick up and he came hard, crashing down against her.

When he pulled off of her, she kissed him again.

Daryl was suddenly worried about the whole thing. He didn't know if, now that they'd done that, she was going to freak out about it, and he wasn't sure what to do with the condom to keep anyone from seeing it. He didn't really know what the protocol for this kind of thing was. The women he'd been with had just kind of left after they'd had sex.

Daryl got up from the floor and started to put his clothes back on, putting the condom and the wrapper where he could see it so he wouldn't lose it somehow.

"What are we gonna do with that?" He asked, looking around for his shirt.

"Uh…I'll take it down to the trash barrels we burn the trash in," Carol said.

"Don't want no one snoopin' 'round," Daryl said.

"No one will see it," Carol said. "And if they do, they'll just think it belongs to Glenn and Maggie."

Daryl looked at her and he wasn't sure if something was wrong. She was just sitting there.

"Ain't'cha gettin' dressed?" Daryl asked. "Fuckin' cold up here ta me so I know ya bony ass is freezin'."

Carol nodded and smiled at him.

"Yeah…" she said. "I'm getting dressed."

She got up and got dressed and by the time she pulled her shirt on, Daryl had already folded the poncho back. He wasn't sure if they were supposed to have some kind of conversation about this or how this was supposed to work. He didn't really know what it meant.

Carol pulled her coat on and came over toward him, picking up the discarded condom and wrapper and making a face.

"So…" Daryl started, not really knowing what to say. "What…uh…" He paused and chewed at his thumb.

Carol walked over and smiled at him again before catching his neck with her empty hand and pulling his face back to hers for another of the deep kisses. He fell into it and held it for a moment, relieved that he could enjoy it for a bit without the interruption of any other body parts being interested.

When Carol pulled away she smiled again and turned toward the door.

"Goodnight, Daryl," she said. "Thank you…"

Daryl felt himself blush. He wasn't positive that thank you was what you normally said, but maybe it was.

He nodded his head and mumbled a thank you in return.

"Goodnight, Carol," he said.

He watched her go out of the watch tower and he walked around to the side, watching as she exited the tower and went out through the yard toward the area where their trash barrels were located. She lingered there for just a second before he watched her cross her arms across her chest, pulling her coat tighter closed, and head back toward the prison. He stayed at the side watching her until he knew she was all the way inside and safe from anything that might be lurking in the shadows below.

He wasn't sure how they were supposed to go from here to more kissing or more sex or what was supposed to come next…but since she'd let him know that they went from kissing to sex he supposed she'd let him know what the hell he was supposed to do next.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: This is it for me for the night. Long work day today and long days ahead so I'm only writing at night for a while. I did want to try to get you something out in the little bit of free time that I do have, though. **

**I'll give a little warning. This isn't too bad, I don't think at least, but I'm tired and my judgment may be a little clouded. Therefore I'll say that it may be a little explicit or something since it's something like Intro to Sex Ed with Alice. (Though this version of Alice is, perhaps, not exactly the same as the Alice we meet in Phantom Hearts…at least not yet…?) So…I don't know…do with that what you will and skip the chapter if you're feeling sensitive about sexual things.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl wasn't really sure what they were supposed to do about the night before or if they were supposed to do anything at all. When he'd gotten in from watch he'd gone directly to bed but couldn't sleep. He was too busy fretting over what the hell had happened.

It almost seemed like a dream to him right now…like he wasn't even sure that it happened and he didn't have any concrete evidence that it had.

After all this time, had Carol really just come to him in the watch tower and been out of her clothes and offering herself up to him like that? He knew it was real, but his brain was arguing that it hadn't been, or that she hadn't meant to do it.

And what would everyone else say if they were to find out about it? Everyone knew about Maggie and Glenn, they'd known about them for a while, and of course Rick and Lori were married. But what would everyone say if they knew that Daryl had sex with Carol in the watch tower?

Since he wasn't sleeping, Daryl had gone to breakfast with the rest of them. He'd been kind of nervous that they would know what happened. He almost expected it to be something like a sixth sense. They'd smell it on him or on Carol or something and he'd be expected to answer for what the hell they'd done. Maybe they'd even be pissed off at him for having sex with Carol when he knew he wasn't the kind of person that was good enough for her.

No one had seemed to notice, though, or if they did they didn't say anything. Daryl wasn't sure how to act with Carol either. Was he supposed to act differently? He sure as shit wasn't going to be all like Glenn was with Maggie and assume that just because they'd had sex he had to follow her around like some damn little pup.

So he'd chosen not to say or do anything at all. Maybe he could read from her what the hell he was supposed to do…or maybe she'd do something and he could just sort of copy whatever the hell it was. But she hadn't acted any differently either. When he'd passed through the line she'd smiled at him the same soft smile that she usually did and offered him a plate…not even asking why the hell he wasn't sleeping or anything.

Daryl took his plate and made his way to the table, sitting down with T-Dog and Rick.

"Didn't you have watch last night, man?" T-Dog asked.

"Yeah, why?" Daryl asked, wondering if he'd been found out.

"Why the hell aren't you sleeping?" T-Dog asked. "Hell if I could stay up all night and bother coming down here just for some oatmeal."

Daryl chuckled a little, glad that it seemed that T-Dog hadn't detected anything about last night's occurrences.

"Just ain't tired," Daryl said. "Ain't got watch tonight, though, so I reckon I'll sleep then. What's the plan for the day?"

"Working on them generators," T-Dog said. "Pretty close to getting everything up and running, I think. Still think we need to make a run soon, though, see if we can't find some back ups in case those go out."

"Bad condition?" Rick asked.

"Well, not the best," T-Dog said. "Doesn't matter too much if they're just powering random stuff around the prison, but Alice wants to make sure that the ones we use to power the part where she's using those offices are dependable."

Daryl glanced in Rick's direction. By now it was pretty common knowledge that Lori probably wasn't going to have this baby normally, and Rick was putting his trust in the loud mouthed brunette and assuming that she would be able to pull off surgery in the prison. Daryl wasn't sure what he would have thought about it if he were Rick. She was supposed to be a doctor…but it wasn't like they had any real damn proof other than her word on the matter.

"We can set up a run to go out tomorrow," Rick said, paying far more attention to his plate than he had to. "I'll talk to Alice today. I know she wanted to try to find some more things while we were out. I'll see if we can't get a list. Daryl, maybe you and I could go out tomorrow morning?"

Rick glanced at Daryl and Daryl shrugged in response.

"Fine with me," Daryl responded. "Ain't like I had plans or nothin'."

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Daryl had come to help T-Dog with the work that he was doing, but basically it boiled down to him standing around watching. T-Dog knew what he was doing and Daryl would have been more or less following instructions. He could tinker on cars and bikes pretty well, but he didn't know shit about some of the stuff that his friend was working on…and it looked like T-Dog wasn't too concerned with whether or not he helped. So Daryl stayed out of the way for the most part and handed T-Dog tools when he asked for them to feel like he was at least doing something besides wasting time.

"Yo T! How they hanging?" Alice announced, busting into the room. T-Dog didn't respond, but Daryl glanced in the woman's direction. Nearly every time she came into a room she seemed to feel the need to make some kind of big damn entrance.

Alice walked over and stood in front of Daryl, her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side. She watched him for a minute until he started to grow uncomfortable under her gaze.

"What the fuck ya starin' at?" Daryl asked.

"I need you a minute," Alice said.

"What for?" Daryl asked.

"Need help with something…in my office," Alice said. "You fit the bill just about right."

Before Daryl could protest that he was busy or he just didn't feel like going and doing whatever the hell it was that she wanted done, Alice turned around and faced T-Dog who was still working and not paying them much attention at all.

"Can you spare him?" Alice asked. When T-Dog didn't answer, she raised her voice and it echoed through the room, bouncing off the concrete walls. "Yo! T! Can you spare Daryl?"

"Yeah, whatever," came T-Dog's flippant response.

Daryl sighed and got up from the piece of the floor that he was holding down. He followed Alice through the prison not speaking a word. As soon as they got to the offices that she now considered "hers", he let her lead him through the door.

Alice closed the door behind them and pointed at a chair that she'd drug in there.

"Have a seat," she said.

"What do ya need?" Daryl asked.

"Have a fucking seat," Alice said.

Daryl sighed and shook his head. He sat down.

"Gimme a cigarette," Alice said, holding out her hand.

Daryl sucked his teeth. Alice was a cigarette mooch.

"Why don't'cha find ya own damn cigarettes?" Daryl asked, taking out his pack and offering her one, plucking one out for himself.

They weren't easy to come by and often times the best he could do was rolling his own from tobacco that was sometimes stale and hopefully hadn't suffered any kind of "contamination" or "damage" during the time since this whole damn crisis had happened.

"I will…next time Rick lets me out of the gates on a run," Alice said. "Besides, it's not like it's good for you to smoke all of them. I'm helping your ass."

Daryl rolled his eyes.

"What the fuck ya want? I was busy," Daryl said.

"Oh yeah," Alice said, dragging a chair over to sit in front of him. "I saw how busy your ass was."

She paused a minute to light the cigarette she'd acquired.

"You and me need to have a little talk. Man to man," Alice said.

Daryl chuckled a little.

"Would, but'cha ain't no man," Daryl said.

Alice chuckled.

"No…you got me there. But I'll bet you the rest of that pack of cigarettes that I've gotten more pussy than you have," Alice said.

Daryl looked at her. Alice smiled.

"Now that I've got your attention…humor me. How many women…no…how many times have you had sex before, Daryl?" Alice asked.

"Fuck you!" Daryl spat. "I ain't talkin' 'bout this shit with you!"

Alice laughed.

"I'm guessing…counting last night…once? Twice? Maybe three?" Alice asked.

So Carol had told Alice about last night.

Daryl chose not to respond. He was considering just getting up and leaving the woman sitting there alone. It was obvious that she didn't really need his help and had only called him in to be a pain in the ass.

"Here's the deal, Daryl," Alice said. "Do you know why lesbian sex is so damn good?"

Daryl stared at her.

"Don't reckon it's too damn good at all," Daryl said. "Ain't even got all the fuckin' parts."

Alice chuckled and slapped him on the knee.

"See! That's what the hell I like about your ignorant ass!" Alice declared. "You're not afraid to show it!"

"You're a bitch," Daryl said.

"Always am," Alice said. "I'll tell you why, Daryl…it's so damn good because there's nothing like a woman to know what the hell to do to make a woman's body feel good. You see…we don't have to figure out what all the bells and whistles are. We already know. All we've got to figure out is what's your favorite combination."

"Gotta point here or ya just skippin' down memory lane?" Daryl asked.

Alice smiled at him again. She finished the cigarette in her hand and crushed the butt out on the floor with her shoe before looking at him again and leaning toward him a little.

"Do you like Carol?" Alice asked. "Or am I just wasting my time? Because if I'm wasting my fucking time with you I could go and get on shit and let you do whatever the hell it is you do."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the woman.

"Because she really cares about you, Daryl," Alice said. "I've already had that in my life…the really caring about someone…the really giving a shit about every damn little thing about them…and I won't get that again. No matter how damn much I ever cared about her, there'd always be that one piece that I couldn't offer her…and she deserves that piece. But…if you're not man enough to give it to her then I'll sure as shit give what I can to take the place of it. Up to you."

Daryl looked at Alice. He didn't know if he was man enough to give Carol what the hell Alice was proposing. He cared about her…he cared about her more than he really had cared about anyone. He cared about his brother…who may or may not be alive somewhere…but caring about Carol had been different. She was a whole different kind of person, and it was something he didn't entirely understand.

He would have argued, though, if he'd cared to argue with this woman, that he wasn't good enough for Carol. He stopped himself though, because he certainly wasn't going to tell some skinny ass little brunette that he wasn't man enough to beat her out on something.

"What the fuck ya gotta say?" Daryl asked.

"So you're going to listen?" Alice asked.

Daryl nodded his head slightly.

"I'ma listen," he said. "Ain't sayin' I'ma pay ya a damn bit a' attention if I think ya blowin' hot air out'cha ass, but I'ma listen."

Alice smiled and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest.

"How many times have you had sex before?" Alice asked.

"How many times have you had sex before?" Daryl countered.

Alice smiled and raised her eyebrows at him. She blew out a breath and looked at the ceiling.

"Hell, I don't know…" she said. "I don't think I can count that high."

"Pretty damn cocky," Daryl said.

Alice shook her head.

"It's not being cocky if it's true," Alice said. "I had a steady partner for almost sixteen years…give her take a few bumps in the road…if you're good at what you do then you tend you build up your numbers quickly."

Daryl sat back and propped his foot over his knee, refusing to say anything else. He had told her he'd listen, but he didn't say shit about talking. She apparently got the message.

"OK," Alice said. "Here's the thing. When you're dealing with women there are two things you have to pay attention to. They're separate and they're connected. You've got to pay attention to how she fucking feels emotionally AND how she fucking feels physically. Thing is that they're like a great big knot, though, because one directly affects the other. And right now…big boy…you're fucking up on both of them."

Daryl brought his thumb to his mouth and nipped at the skin there, spitting out a little piece of it before tipping his head to the side.

"We can't cover all this shit in one damn day, though," Alice said. She shook her head like she was having some kind of talk with herself. "So let's hit some basics. Emotionally…well…here are the fucking cliff notes. If you care about her, you've got to figure out how the hell to tell her that. Now I'm not expecting you to know any sonnets and you don't have to tell her that her eyes are like the sun, but you better fucking improvise. A woman wants to know she's fucking special and she's one damn beautiful ass creature."

Daryl thought that Carol was special. She was special to him and he imagined that she was special to any damn body that knew her and had half a brain. He thought she was beautiful too. That wasn't going to be a problem at all…not to think it. He wasn't so sure how he felt about trying to say it, though. He tipped his head in the other direction and gave the woman a little nod, curious to see where the hell she was going with this shit.

"Now…physically…" Alice said. She sighed. "Well, you're going to have to schedule some fucking lessons for that shit because we don't have enough time left to cover all the secrets…but we'll go with the basics. How the fuck would you like it if I sandpapered the hell out of your dick?"

Daryl sat up and almost choked on his own spit.

"What the fuck is your problem?" He spat.

Alice leaned up then, raising her eyebrow and smirking at him.

"Oh?" She asked, shaking her head a little. "You don't think you'd like that?"

"Ya got some serious fuckin' problems, lady!" Daryl said.

Alice made an annoyed face at him.

"Then don't ever, ever fuck a woman dry…or even semi dry…and rough," Alice said. "In fact just never fuck a woman dry…and if you're going to fuck her rough, make sure she's in on that shit. Otherwise, it's about the same damn thing as sandpapering your dick and no damn woman's going to appreciate that shit."

Daryl stared at her.

"Your little pal is number one to you when you're getting off," Alice continued. "If he's happy, you're happy. For a woman, though, he's about the last damn part of the equation…really…he can be a complete afterthought. That's why the hell we don't even have to have "all the pieces," Alice said, air quoting the last part. "Keep Mr. Midnight there in the fucking stall until it's time for his ass to come out."

Daryl wasn't really sure what was happening to him right now. He'd been trapped in an office with a woman who he was suddenly regretting not having shot when he had the damn chance to shoot her in the woods. Now she was sitting in a chair across from him apparently thinking that she could teach his ass something.

"Pay attention to everything with a woman. Some women like some shit more than others…it's your job to figure out what the hell she likes and what she doesn't like, and if all else fails then you man up and ask her," Alice said. "Do you know what a clit is?"

"Course I fuckin' know what a clit is!" Daryl growled. He did know what a clit was…he'd heard Merle run his damn mouth about them.

Alice frowned at him.

"Well, if you don't know where the hell to find one…by all damn means…ask about that too. I'll spare you the visuals. If you know where to find it, learn to pay it some serious fucking attention. That shit is every bit as important to a woman as your little friend is to you, and you wouldn't like it one damn bit if Mr. Midnight got ignored the whole damn time you were fucking," Alice said.

Daryl growled a little at her and shifted in the seat.

"We 'bout done with this shit or ya just gonna keep runnin' ya fuckin' face?" Daryl asked.

Alice reached over and patted him on the leg and he moved his leg quickly.

"Just remember…special, beautiful, clit, wetter is better. When you've got that shit covered, you've got the basics…and when you've got the basics, you can let your fine little friend out to play," Alice said.

Alice stood up then. She looked down at Daryl sitting in the chair and she sighed.

"Be good to her Daryl, if you care at all. She's worth it…and if you're good to her…she'll be good to you," Alice said.

"Why the fuck ya even talk about shit with her?" Daryl asked. "Thought'cha fuckin' liked her ass anyway."

Alice smiled at him again and put her hand on her hip, still hovering over him somewhat.

"I do like her," Alice said. "And I'm her friend. The two go real fucking great together in a relationship. Thing is, though, no matter how damn much you might like somebody, you always know when they don't really feel the same way about you…and it takes something out of it. So I'm trying to give your sorry ass the chance to give her what she wants…but I'll be right there if you can't fucking handle it. Don't you worry about that."

Daryl stood up now, pushing Alice back a little as he gained his feet.

"Did'ja just bring me here to run ya mouth or ya got a legitimate fuckin' issue?" Daryl asked.

Alice shrugged.

"I just wanted a cigarette," she said.

Daryl shook his head at her a little.

"We fuckin' done here?" He asked.

Alice nodded.

"We're as done as you want to be," Alice said.

Daryl started out the door.

"Daryl!" Alice called.

Daryl turned around and waited to see what the hell she wanted now.

"Let me know if you want to know what the hell comes in lesson two," Alice said. She turned then and walked deeper into the office area, her back to Daryl.

Daryl rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see him. He didn't like the idea of taking advice on fucking from this woman. He didn't even know if anything else was supposed to happen with Carol again or if last night had been some kind of one time fluke.

On the other hand, if he was going to try to talk to Carol about this shit and see if they were going to ever do that again together, it might not hurt to think about what the hell the woman had said. If she was full of shit…at least he couldn't really see where he'd lose anything.

Daryl left the room letting the heavy office door swing closed behind him.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: So here we go, another little chapter for you all. Sorry, things are a little "slow" at the moment as we are getting everything set up. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl had gone directly from Alice's office outside to inspect the back part of the prison. At least that's what he said he was doing.

Some distance from where their cell block was located there was a part of the prison that appeared to be at least partially torn down. It was blocked off from their area, at least as far as they could tell since they'd had no problems from it, but they weren't sure what in the world could be lurking back there.

So Daryl had gone to somewhat check the place out, though he had no intention of passing through any fences if he saw Walkers. He wanted to get a feel for the area and what they might need to do about it, if anything, but he really wasn't in the mood for any true adventures at the moment.

He was stewing about what the brunette had said, and more than that he was stewing about the fact that Carol had said anything to her about the night before. He had gotten the feeling from her that she wasn't thrilled with the night…she hadn't exactly acted excited or anything afterwards…but he'd excused it with that's just simply how it was going to be. After all, he didn't know what the hell she expected out of this. It wasn't like he'd even been prepared for her to show up in the watch tower and start taking her clothes off.

And the more he paced around and around the fenced in area, the more he stewed and the less he actually inspected anything. He'd have to go back and report that he didn't see anything and simply leave off the minor detail that he wasn't so much looking for anything either.

When he finally made his way back into the part of the prison that they'd cleared and were using, it was supper time and he went directly to the dining area and sat with Rick who was sitting by himself off in a corner.

Daryl sat there a moment, without even going to get a plate, and stared at Rick who was staring blankly at the wall beyond Daryl. Daryl could tell the man was thinking. He was thinking about something so hard, in fact, that Daryl wasn't positive that he'd even seen him come in and sit down right in front of him.

Daryl turned a little as a plate appeared, clanking down on the table in front of him, and his eyes trailed up Carol's arm to her face where she was leaning over him and smiling.

"Hungry?" She asked.

Daryl bit at his thumb and regarded her. If there was anything wrong with her, she didn't look like it…except maybe she was a little more tightly wound than she usually was. She stood there for a moment, looking at Daryl looking at her, and then she turned and headed back over to continue handing out plates.

Daryl turned his attention to the food, still sulking a little about the fact that she'd told Alice and wondering who the hell else she'd told. He could feel his irritation growing slightly at the thought as he continued to eat the vegetable medley.

"We goin' out on a run tomorrow?" He asked.

Rick didn't respond. Carol had brought him food too, which Daryl hadn't noticed, and he was staring at the plate that he was eating from with the same intense stare that he'd been using to focus on the wall earlier.

Daryl reached over and waved his hand between Rick and his plate. It was only then that Rick looked up and focused on him and it was the first time that Daryl was sure that the man even knew he was sitting at the table with him.

"What?" Rick asked. "I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it," Daryl responded. "We goin' on that run tomorrow or what?" Daryl asked. "If we ain't, I'm goin' huntin' an' try ta scare up some kinda meat."

Rick nodded his head.

"Yeah, I was still planning on making the run," he responded. "If you want to go hunting, though, I can take Glenn…or T-Dog…or I'll figure something out…"

Daryl shook his head.

"Ain't nothin' but a thing," Daryl said. "If I don't go huntin' tomorrow then I'll go the next damn day. If there's shit out there it'll still be there. Everything's gonna start hunkerin' down 'fore too long."

"Like we should be doing?" Rick asked.

Daryl nodded his head.

Even though the prison meant that they weren't out on the open road as much and weren't quite so exposed to the elements as they once had been, they'd still realistically not be going into any kind of hibernation soon. The place still had a lot of area that needed to be covered and secured and it seemed like every day they discovered some other little task that needed to be taken care of if this place was going to prove to be any kind of permanent residence for them. At least, though, they could count on the protection of the place more than they had really any other so far.

Rick didn't seem too anxious to have a conversation and Daryl was happy about it. In the back of his mind he was still busy processing the whole thing with Carol and how he was going to handle it, if he was going to handle it at all. He appreciated the fact that Rick was processing whatever big pile of shit he had in his own life and didn't feel the need to banter back and forth like it seemed that everyone else in the room was doing.

After he was done with his dinner, Daryl dropped his plate off in the big tub that the women were using for washing dishes and clothes in. He didn't even look at Carol at this point because he wouldn't have known what to do with his eye contact.

He excused himself without really saying anything to anyone and went straight to his perch, flopping down on his mattress and lying there, staring at the ceiling, while he toyed with one of his arrows, gently pressing the tip against his finger.

Daryl might have lie there ten minutes or he might have lie there an hour. There wasn't anything in the prison that marked time really except for everyone's internal clocks and the occasional glance outside to see how dark or light it was. Eventually, though, everyone seemed to settle into their cells instead of into the common area below him and a hush fell over the space that was only interrupted by the occasional murmur from a cell.

Daryl closed his eyes, still toying with the arrow, and thought about the fact that he needed to clear his mind enough to sleep so he wouldn't be falling all over his own damn feet when they went on the run the next day to look for things the group needed or thought they needed.

His rest was interrupted, though, by the light shuffle of feet on the concrete beside him and through his eyelids he could discern a slight change in the light that indicated that whoever he'd open his eyes to find was carrying a lantern.

Daryl opened his eyes and saw Carol standing over him.

"Were you asleep?" She whispered.

"Wake my fuckin' ass up ta ask if I'm sleepin'?" Daryl responded.

Carol knelt down on her knees on the concrete beside his mattress, putting the lantern down on the ground. Daryl shifted a little and made room, on the mattress, gesturing at it with his hand. No one's damn knees were fit for kneeling on concrete, and even if he was a little pissed off at her right now for having run her mouth he wasn't going to let her kneel there beside the bed when she could at least sit on the mattress.

Carol smiled halfheartedly and nodded a little, moving around to sit on the edge of the mattress.

Daryl regarded her and she regarded him and he wondered who the hell was supposed to speak or what they were supposed to say.

"I wanted to talk to you about last night," Carol whispered, leaning down toward Daryl so close that he could smell the scent of the toothpaste they all used on her breath.

"Why the fuck ya whisperin'?" Daryl responded, keeping his voice low, though it was a contradiction to what he was saying. "Ya done fuckin' run ya mouth all over the damn prison…why we gotta keep it quiet now?"

Carol looked at him, knitting her eyebrows together. She shook her head.

"What are you talking about?" She whispered, her voice rising just a little. "I haven't said anything…"

Daryl raised his eyebrows at her.

"Oh ya didn't tell ya lil' friend?" Daryl asked.

Carol shook her head and leaned in closer to him, the line between her eyebrows getting deeper.

"I didn't tell anyone, Daryl…you made it pretty clear last night that you didn't want anyone to know…" Carol said.

Daryl sat up now, their faces almost touching.

"Ya lil' damn friend decided ta drag my ass inta her fuckin' office an' tell me how bad ya told her I sucked at this shit, so don't'cha even fuckin' lie ta my ass an' tell me ya ain't run ya mouth. Who the hell else ya told?" Daryl asked.

He didn't like to be lied to. There were a lot of things that he could tolerate out of people, but lying wasn't one of them.

Carol shook her head again, the facial expression she wore not changing.

"I don't know what you're talking about…I swear…I didn't tell anyone…" Carol said.

"Alice?" Daryl asked.

Carol shook her head. She shrugged a little.

"She asked me if something happened…" Carol said. "Daryl, she helped me get ready and she gave you a condom…the only thing I even did was nod at her. I swear I didn't even say anything. I know you're ashamed that you had sex with me…and I wouldn't rub it in your face. She asked me how it was…but I didn't say anything. I swear."

Daryl felt like he could usually tell when people were lying. When they lied, they usually got shifty or something. Carol's overall demeanor wasn't shifty at all.

Daryl got to his feet quickly and picked up the lantern. He reached down, grabbing Carol by the arm and tugged. She gained her feet and followed him as he pulled her, without a word, down the steps from the perch and out the door of the prison, walking her along the side wall and finally stopping to push her against it.

"What are we doing?" Carol asked, looking around once they'd stopped.

"Fuckin' walls have ears," Daryl said, not as concerned with keeping his voice too low now that they were outside. Maggie and Glenn were on watch in the tower, but he doubted they could hear much of anything even if they were listening and he had a good damn idea that when they were on watch together they weren't really paying attention to anything they were supposed to be paying attention to happening down below. "If ya didn't tell her a damn thing then why the hell'd she start spoutin' shit off ta me 'bout how the hell ta…did'ja tell her it was fuckin' bad?" Daryl asked finally, feeling his irritation bubbling to the surface.

Carol shook her head. After a minute she snorted like she was trying to hold back laughter and Daryl got a little more irritated.

"What the fuck ya laughin' at?" He asked.

"I'm so sorry," Carol said, shaking her head. "Daryl I didn't tell her it was bad. She asked me how it was and I didn't say anything. I didn't think you'd want me to say anything…"

"Then where the fuck she get her information?" Daryl asked.

Carol shrugged and shook her head again, looking more amused now than Daryl really would have liked.

"She's a fully functioning person, Daryl. I don't know…maybe she just assumed…I don't know…but I didn't say anything. You made it clear that you didn't want anyone to know about it…I did nod to her that something had happened, but I promise I thought you already figured she would know…I mean you said she gave you the condom," Carol said.

She reached out, putting her hands on his shoulders in a movement like she'd never done before. She wasn't exactly pulling him to her. It was more like she was holding him in place. Daryl didn't try to move, though.

"I didn't want anyone ta know because people around here don't know how ta mind their own fuckin' business," Daryl spat after a moment. "'Parently it don't matter though 'cause they still don't know how ta mind their own business."

Carol nodded her head now and then looked down, away from him.

"It's OK, Daryl," Carol said. "I'll talk to her in the morning. I'll make sure she doesn't say anything to anyone…no one has to find out. It was a one time thing and it's done now…we don't even have to talk about it anymore."

Daryl felt himself calming down a little, almost against his will. He didn't really care for Carol's tone of voice. He was mad at her because he thought she'd told…but apparently the situation hadn't been quite what he'd thought it was.

"Was she right?" Daryl asked after a minute.

Carol's hands dropped from their place on his shoulders and she glanced at him before looking back down at the darkness between them like there was anything there to study. She didn't respond and Daryl reached out, pushing her chin so that she had to look at him.

"Was she right? Did'ja hate it?" Daryl asked.

Carol shook her head slightly.

"No…I didn't hate it," she said. "I appreciate that you cared enough not to turn me away…but I understand that you didn't really want to do it…and it's OK. We'll just forget about it."

"I didn't say I didn't want ta do it," Daryl said.

He growled a little in irritation. This shit wasn't his thing and now he was trapped in the darkness beside the prison with Carol and a camping lantern trying to pretend that he even had half a fucking clue what he wanted to say about anything he'd thought about since he'd known the woman.

He sucked his teeth. Carol was looking at him now, but she wasn't responding.

"Ya sayin' ya liked it?" Daryl asked.

Carol was quiet for a second longer.

"Well…" she said. "I…I wanted to be with you Daryl…and I liked that you let me be with you," Carol finished finally.

Daryl raised his eyebrows at her, though he realized the light probably wasn't clear enough for her to see his expression.

"So ya didn't actually like it," he said.

He could see Carol shrug and she looked away from him again, forcing him to reach out and tip her face toward him. This time he held her chin so that she couldn't turn away from him again. It was hard enough to have this fucking conversation. He didn't need her looking away every few seconds to make it even more difficult.

Carol sighed.

"It was good," she said.

That right there. That was the voice of someone who was lying. If Daryl could have seen her eyes clearly he could bet that they were sure as shit shifting.

"Fuck," he spat, not knowing what else to say. He wanted to leave and just abandon the whole damn conversation now. Here was Carol confirming what he'd already been told. Apparently he was just as bad at sex as he worried he might be…and that wasn't an easy thing to swallow. He hadn't had much damn practice at it, that was true…but he'd kind of liked to let himself believe that he might be able to figure the shit out on his own.

Carol shook her head and her hand went back to his shoulder.

"No…no…it's not a big deal, Daryl," Carol said. "It's one of those things…it's just not a big deal."

How could Daryl even admit to her the thoughts he'd had about her? The damn dreams and everything else made his cheeks burn hotter at the moment and he was glad for the blanket of darkness around them. If it hadn't been dark she'd have clearly seen him blush. But in the dreams he always knew what he was doing. She always did everything just the way he wanted her to and she was always so damn happy that he must have been doing everything right too.

"It is a big fuckin' deal," Daryl said, feeling a little defeated.

He didn't have much time to think about it, though, because Carol surprised him, leaning into him and bringing her lips to his. He didn't respond for a moment, not expecting it, but then he sunk into the kiss. That…he liked that…and he must have been OK at it because she moaned softly and he found himself sinking against her, pushing her against the concrete wall of the prison.

He felt like the kisses were so good…so warm and comfortable…that he'd like to crawl up inside the feeling if he could.

When they finally broke the kiss, Carol was a little out of breath and she brought her fingertips up, touching her lips where his had just been.

"I didn't say I was ashamed," Daryl said. "Ya deserve better than my ass…hell…ya deserve some damn body that knows what the hell they doin'."

Daryl turned then and started to walk off, but Carol caught him from behind on the shoulder and he turned back.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm not good at it either, Daryl…" Carol said. "I don't know much…and what I do know Ed said…well…I'm just not very good at it. If you wanted…though…we could try to learn together, maybe?"

Daryl felt his stomach flip a little at the nerves that the mere thought churned up.

"Ya mean ya wanta do that shit again?" Daryl asked.

"I mean…if you wanted to," Carol said. "You don't have to feel like you've got to do anything, though…I understand."

Daryl wasn't sure how to respond. He felt like he needed to think about the whole thing. On the one hand, he was more than a little terrified of the idea, but on the other he did care about Carol and he wouldn't mind having a chance to live out some of the things that he'd thought about.

"Ya mean like now?" Daryl asked.

"It's a little late," Carol responded. "But we could take watch tomorrow…if you wanted to."

Daryl grunted in response and stood there a moment longer. He wasn't sure what to do or what to say exactly. He wasn't prepared for this and he always handled situations better when he'd at least had some time to think about them and weigh out how he thought shit would go down.

Since he wasn't sure, though, what exactly he should respond, he settled for reaching out and holding Carol's chin so that she was looking at him. He brought his lips back to hers and she leaned into him, her tongue teasing his and exploring his mouth. He broke the kiss and shifted away from her when it started to become too much for him.

He cleared his throat and handed her the lantern so she'd be able to see her way back to her cell, but he couldn't bring himself to really say anything else in response. He looked at her for a moment after she'd taken the lantern and then he made his way around the side of the prison, knowing she was just behind him, and slipped in the door and went back to his perch to think everything over.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Hi there! Sorry I didn't have the energy to get a chapter for this out last night. Real life does that to you sometimes. I did do some planning so I have a lot of where we're going action wise in this story already mapped out for us…assuming the story doesn't make any huge twists and turns all on its own, which is of course, something that sometimes happens.**

**Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for your continued support and for all your reviews and comments. They mean so much! This chapter is a little longer, but I had a certain amount of elements that I wanted to work into it so I figured you could forgive me my inconsistencies in length.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl, T-Dog, and Rick were leaving early in the morning, just as the sun was coming up, to go on a run to look at generators and to pick up some random supplies from a nearby town whose pharmacies and grocery stores they had yet to pick through.

Since they were leaving so early, they'd told Carol that there was no need for her to worry about having breakfast ready for them. Granola bars and Gatorade would more than suffice for the meal and they would take extra to eat while they were gone in case they didn't happen to run across anything substantial in the way of food.

Carol had gotten up, though, far earlier than she had to and had roused Alice so that by the time the three men were ready to come through and get something out of the pantry, they had hot oatmeal waiting on them and a bag of assorted snack items had been packed for their later meal.

"We'll see what we can find as far as generators go," T-Dog said to Alice who was lingering near him while he ate his breakfast, scrubbing at his eyes. "If we find anything, though, we're going to have to find a truck to haul it back and more than likely a fork lift or something to load and unload it with."

"You mean you're not man enough to just pick that puppy up and carry it all the way here?" Alice teased, yawning.

"Not at all," T-Dog responded.

"Well, I can drive just about any kind of truck you like," Alice offered. "But I don't know if I could figure out how to drive a lift."

"I think I could handle a lift," T-Dog said. "If we find something better than what we have we'll make a second run, just the two of us, and see if we can't get it back."

"Deal," Alice responded.

"What are the odds we get the ones we have here up and running well enough," Rick asked, "assuming we don't find anything better."

"We've got one that looks pretty dependable," T-Dog said.

"So we're putting all our eggs in that basket," Alice said. "Assuming that we don't find anything, we'll use the less dependable ones elsewhere…at least until the baby comes…and we'll pray that sucker holds out long enough for me to get everything taken care of with Lori. Last thing I need is to put her under and suddenly the thing break down."

"But if that happened?" Rick asked.

Daryl watched the three of them from his seat. Carol was outside, obviously starting to make more oatmeal for the rest of the group that would be rising not long after they would file out of here on the run. Daryl hadn't really spoken to her this morning and he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to say if there was anything to be said.

As far as he knew, they were talking about taking watch together tonight and trying this whole sex thing between them again, but it had him nervous as hell. As much as he hated to admit that he'd listened to one damn thing out of the brunette's mouth, he was trying to remember and recite for himself every damn thing she'd said as some kind of pointer. Hoping, somehow, he might be able to do this right instead of being pretty much some kind of epic failure.

Daryl finished his bowl of food, cramming the last of the bites into his mouth as Rick stood up. He'd been reassured, at least as much as he could be, Daryl supposed, that somehow everything would work out with Lori. And now it was time for the three of them to go outside the gates and hope that they could find what the hell they needed.

They loaded into one of the vehicles and drove down to the gates. Alice and Carol had walked along beside the vehicle and they yanked back the gates, letting the men pass through.

As Rick drove them toward the small town that was their destination, Daryl leaned on his elbow against the window to his left and chewed at his thumb. He was retracing the entire morning in about a dozen different ways, trying to figure what he might have said or what he might have done to make things go differently. He hadn't even really had the chance to even speak to Carol…but he also knew that he hadn't made the opportunity arise either…and now he was feeling a little guilty about not having made any gesture whatsoever.

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"So you're an electrician and a cardiologist?" Carol asked Alice as she came up behind the woman who was tinkering away at whatever odd job it was that T-Dog had assigned her before he left.

Alice turned, looking over her shoulder briefly and then redirecting her attention back to what she was doing.

"Oh…hey," Alice responded. "Eh…cardiologist yes…electrician, not so much. Truth is I don't have a damn clue what I'm doing here but I paid enough attention to copy what T asked me to do and I'm pretty resilient to electrical shock if it's for a decent cause."

Carol walked over and found a spot on the floor that she thought looked a little cleaner than the rest to sit.

"I talked to Daryl…" Carol said.

"You talked to him?" Alice asked. "As in with words and shit?"

Carol snickered.

"Yes, with words," Carol said.

"Good job," Alice responded. "That's pretty damn impressive."

"Thing is," Carol said, "that I don't want you to say anything else to Daryl…about anything. He thought that I told you what happened."

Alice nodded.

"Fine," she responded. "I won't say anything."

Carol hesitated a moment.

"How did you know…I mean…what made you say anything?" Carol asked finally.

Alice shrugged a little and glanced at Carol before turning her attention back to what she was doing.

"You both like to think you're pretty closed books," Alice said. "Neither one of you are, though…it doesn't take a genius to figuring much out…not if you're paying attention."

Carol didn't know if she was an open book or not, but she didn't think Daryl was. There were some things that were pretty easy to figure out about him, at least after you'd been around him for a bit, but there were others that she couldn't exactly say were obvious.

She merely nodded in response, though, and got to her feet.

"Well…just don't say anything else to him," Carol said. "I don't want him thinking that I was talking to you about things."

Alice chuckled.

"Got it," she responded. "Good luck…by the way…you know that talking shit sometimes works a hell of a lot better than telecommunication or whatever you've been working at."

"I hope so…" Carol said.

Carol left the room then, a little unsure about the whole evening with Daryl. They were going to take watch together and "try this again" but that was about the extent of the plans. In fact, Carol wasn't really sure if, by the time they made it back, Daryl might have changed his mind about the whole thing.

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The men made it back with a good bit of supplies and the report that they'd found some generators that looked to be in much better condition than the ones the prison had to offer. They were, apparently, just outside of a hospital in some kind of storage unit that they located. The news was enough to excite everyone in the prison because it meant that not only would Alice be able to be more assured that things went well with Lori, but also that they might be able to have some creature comforts available to them after all. Things that they hadn't had for some time, and things that more or less they'd come to believe that only dreams were made of these days.

Carol had been excited by the news, just like everyone else, but her excitement was clouded over by her worry about what would happen with Daryl that night.

She'd distracted herself by offering to take some of the bags of supplies that were brought to the storage area they were setting up and sort them, leaving the Greene ladies and Lori in charge of washing dishes while T-Dog entertained Alice with their plans for a future run together to bring the treasures back to the prison.

Carol unloaded the bags onto the shelves in the silence of the storage area and tried to psyche herself into believing that everything was going to go through without a hitch when she finally got up the nerve to go up and take watch, which she'd already informed Rick she would take, with Daryl.

She felt out of her league, once again. Daryl wanted to try this again…or so he said. But Daryl was one that was quick to run from things that freaked him out and relationships clearly freaked him out. She'd already put so much into simply trying to form a friendship with him that the more she thought about it, the more she thought she was crazy for thinking that she even had the energy to make this more than that.

Carol slipped out of storage and went back to the common area where the rest of the bags were left for her to take down and unload. She rummaged through them a little and finally made her way back into the dining area where T-Dog was sitting in his chair, leaned back on two feet, talking to Alice who was leaning with her elbow on the table and eating what appeared to be some kind of sucker.

When Carol walked into the room T-Dog let his chair fall back to four feet and Alice stopped talking right in the middle of whatever it was she was saying. Both of them looked at her a little like children who expected to get in trouble for whatever they were doing.

"Everything planned for tomorrow?" Carol asked, forcing a smile. Both of them responded then more or less by lightening their facial expressions.

"Been planned out for a bit," T-Dog responded. He chuckled a little and shook his head. "Rick's handing out other odd jobs right now, though, so we thought we might spend a little more time perfecting exactly what we needed to do."

Carol smiled then, realizing why they both looked like they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. When Rick was feeling especially stressed, which was pretty much all the time these days with the baby being so close to coming, he started handing out orders left and right as though if anyone took the time to even go to the bathroom everyone's life would simply fall apart.

"I'm not here to hand out jobs…" Carol said. "Except…Alice…do you think you could give me a hand in storage? It won't take but just a few minutes…"

Alice shrugged and glanced at T-Dog.

"I'm going to hide in my cell," T-Dog said. He turned to Alice. "We're still on for tonight?"

"I've got your number…" Alice said. She smiled and stayed seated for a moment. T-Dog got up and left the dining room, reaching out and squeezing Carol's arm a little as he passed by.

"What's that all about?" Carol asked Alice when T-Dog was gone.

Alice got up from the table, the sucker stick hanging out her mouth, and walked toward Carol.

"Competition we've got going on," Alice said. "It's dumb…we do crossword puzzles together in this book that I got and you get points for however many words you get depending on how hard the clue was. I let him win sometimes, but he gives me candy when I win."

Carol chuckled.

"Hence the sucker?" Carol asked.

"I can't spell worth a shit…so that's trial and error…but I picked up a decent vocabulary along the way," Alice said with a shrug. "So what the hell are we doing in storage?"

Carol turned and walked out to where the remaining bags were. She picked a few up and waited while Alice got the rest of them. She didn't speak until they were sorting things on the shelves and Alice kept casting her eyes in her direction, obviously knowing that sorting a few bags of items wasn't really something that Carol needed another person in order to accomplish.

"I need you to talk me up…" Carol said. "Or do that thing…whatever it is you do. Tell me that I'm not being stupid by thinking that this could work."

Alice chuckled and then rolled her eyes at Carol before playfully snatching the bag out of her hand and carrying it around to another shelf to start unloading stuff.

"So you're pulling my string now? That it?" Alice asked. "I have permission to speak?"

Carol sighed and growled a little.

"I didn't say you don't have permission to speak to me," Carol said. "I said don't talk to Daryl…and this is different. This is…I just don't…you really think that he'll come around? That this could actually be something real?"

"Mmmm…" Alice responded, momentarily focused on what was left of her candy. "Something epic, maybe…" She said. "Stop fucking overthinking things though. Jesus! Sometimes the best things that you do in life are the things you do because they just feel right or they feel good or whatever. If you want to do it, go for it. If you don't want to then fuck it…but if you're trying to figure out forever then you're just dooming yourself. Hell…have fun with it…enjoy it while you've got it. Life has a way of fucking up forever."

Carol sighed.

She knew the woman was right. That was the worst thing about it. There wasn't any need in thinking about forever anymore. Forever really wasn't even such a special thing when you thought about the fact that any one of them could be dead tomorrow if a stray Walker caught them by surprise somewhere.

"But the prison is pretty small if things don't work out…things get awkward. You never saw what happened between Shane and Lori…and Rick…if things don't work out…" Carol started.

"Then they don't work out…" Alice said. "Don't end shit on bad terms…that's the moral of that story. Work your shit out. If you both agree that something doesn't work then it just doesn't work. There's no more need to bitch about it than those busted generators. You've just got to decide if it's worth it to you to try."

Alice sighed and turned around then, throwing the empty duffel bag in Carol's direction so that it landed about a foot from her on the ground and stirred up some of the dust that was on the floor there. Alice turned and started out of the storage area.

"That's a decision you've got to make on your own," Alice said. "You've got all the pieces to the puzzle…but you're the one that's going to have to figure out if you want to bother putting the damn thing together. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a bag of Tootsie Pops that I need to go win."

Carol sighed to herself, but she did feel at least a little bit better.

"Oh…" Alice said, turning around. She produced something from her front pocket. "Heads up!" She called, tossing it in Carol's direction.

Carol stepped out and caught it, realizing it was a half empty box of condoms.

"Pilfered it out of one of the bags," Alice said. "If you're going to do it, be smart about it. I might not always be around to get people's asses out of trouble."

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Daryl paced back and forth against the one wall of the watch tower and started to convince himself that Carol wasn't coming. He thought she was late…but then again he had no real way to tell what time it was except by the passing of the day and he hadn't even been paying all that much attention to when it had started to be dark.

He had already decided, though, that if she didn't come he wasn't going to hold it against her. It was simply that she realized that she didn't want to do this and she didn't want to do it with him. He knew that he'd fucked up the last time…so who could blame her for not coming back for seconds of a dish that was bad in the first damn place?

So he was surprised when she pushed open the door to the watch tower and came in, silent at first, putting her lantern on the floor.

Daryl stopped his pacing and stood there, facing her, and gnawing at the edge of his thumbnail where he'd already made it tender.

"Didn't know if ya was comin'," Daryl said.

Carol smiled at him.

"Got a little held up," she said. "Lori wanted to talk to me about Rick."

Daryl sighed.

"What is that shit? Women always run their mouths about men?" Daryl asked.

Carol chuckled and shrugged a little.

"I guess they do…" she said. "I didn't have a lot of girlfriends before all of this…but since this all happened? Women just talk about everything together. They sound off on things with each other. Don't men do the same thing?"

Daryl realized, when he actually thought about it, that men did kind of do the same thing. He didn't care so much for sharing things…and maybe it was because he didn't really have too much that he wanted to share at the moment…but he knew that Glenn would search him out from time to time to unload some stress or the other about Maggie and more than once he'd leant an ear to Rick about the problems he was having with Lori.

Daryl just shrugged in response and decided not to pursue the topic any farther.

Carol walked over to the corner where all their stuff was and she peeled off the oversized coat that she wore, fanning herself a little as she stood up.

Daryl wasn't sure how they were supposed to proceed from here and he hoped to hell that she had something to help him out. Right now he was running over and over in his head the things that Alice had said to him and wondering if he was seriously considering taking the loud mouth's words to heart.

Carol looked at him, adjusting her clothes and nervously smiling a little.

"Can I honestly admit that I'm nervous?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled a little. He decided he'd give it a go with taking some of the advice to heart because now at least he knew that Carol was freaking out about this at least a little…and maybe if he could help her out she could help him out in turn.

"Ya look real pretty…" Daryl offered. He felt his face grow hot at saying it. He couldn't exactly remember having told a woman that he thought she was attractive too often, but at least he knew he meant it, even if it didn't come out like it was supposed to.

Carol smiled.

"You don't have to say that," Carol said.

Daryl bit at his thumb and shrugged a little.

"Meant it," he said. "Ya always look pretty."

Carol chuckled.

"Oh? Is it the Walker guts or all the dirt that gets your attention?" Carol asked.

Daryl noted something different in her voice and she was smiling at him now a little differently than she had before. He couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Guess I got a thing for dirty girls…" Daryl said.

"I could be plenty dirty…" Carol said.

Daryl realized at that precise moment that he couldn't breathe, and the way that Carol cocked her eyebrow at him simply made it worse. The moment didn't last, though, because she broke and laughed and it made him chuckle in response. Carol brought her hand up, running it through her hair.

"Oh my God! I'm so bad at this!" Carol said.

And something about it was the push that Daryl needed…or the lightening in the air…whatever it was. He decided to take the situation into his own hands then and he reached out, grabbing her arm and pulling her to him. His lips searched hers out and found them and she gave way and let his tongue seek out hers for a kiss that was oddly playful but amazing nonetheless.

"I think ya better at it than I am," Daryl said when they pulled apart.

Carol was looking up at him and smiling dreamily. She cleared her throat a little.

"So…you wanna fool around?" She asked.

"Go easy on me…" Daryl said.

He had to admit that her nature right now, something about her was nice. It was playful and it was calming, but it was sexy all at the same time. It was helping to relieve his nerves at least.

"It wouldn't be much fun if I did," Carol said.

"Pffttt," Daryl responded, too struck to know what else to say. He didn't know if it was OK, but he decided to take a chance that they were sincerely going to go through with this and he went to get his poncho from the corner, laying it out on the floor.

Carol sat down on it immediately and peeled off her shoes and socks. Daryl joined her, determined to take things as slowly as she might want to take them. That was a piece of advice he was going to do his best to follow. He was going to try to make sure that he knew that she had a good time…or at least the best he was capable of giving her.

Carol must have sensed his hesitation because she leaned into him, kissing him and he responded in the like, feeling himself already overtaken with desire.

Carol pulled away from him and pulled her shirt over her head. She took his hand and brought it to her breast and he cupped it. After a moment, she went for his shirt and he let her unbutton it and slip it off of him.

Daryl hissed and thought he'd lose himself when she dipped her head and twirled her tongue slowly around his nipple, kissing and sucking him. She moved to the other side and repeated the action and if he hadn't been hard before he certainly was then. He took a chance that if he'd liked it that much, she might like it too, so he pushed her back onto the poncho and she went willingly. He brought his mouth to her nipples and tried to repeat the same movements.

And he was repaid when she moaned and hissed at him, squirming herself and bringing her hands up to tangle in his hair.

_So she liked that._

Daryl felt caught up at the taste of her skin and he let his mouth trail down her, kissing and licking the soft skin from her breasts to her belly. Her stomach quivered as he kissed the skin there, but she panted at him and he felt like the sound was one that at least let him know he was moving in the right direction.

When he raised up, thinking to move and at least adjust himself a little from the uncomfortable condition he found himself in, Carol moved as well and shimmied out of her pants. Daryl decided to take her cue on this as well and got out of his own, suddenly feeling a little more nervous.

Carol dug around in her pants pocket and dropped a condom on the floor just beside the poncho. Daryl looked at it, but she got his attention back quickly by putting her hands on his face and kissing him deeply and he sunk into the kiss, thinking he might die if they didn't move forward with this before long. He wasn't going to make it too much longer.

Daryl reached down and ran his hand between Carol's legs and she hissed and bucked at him with the contact. He rubbed her for a moment, realizing she was definitely wet and the more he teased her, the wetter she got.

"Ya ready?" Daryl asked her.

Carol nodded at him. He leaned over her.

"I want'cha ta tell me the truth…" he said. "Ya really ready?"

"Put the condom on," Carol panted at him, leaning up and sucking his nipple again. Daryl hissed at her and back up enough to struggle with the condom. When he came back, she returned her mouth to his nipple, sucking and licking and teasing him.

He grabbed her hips and tried to move her around and she turned her attention to helping him. He was shocked when she reached between them and helped to guide him into her and he sunk all the way in in one thrust.

And suddenly Daryl felt more animal than human. He thrust into her, trying to satiate some thirst that he thought he was dying from and she responded differently than before. She raked her fingers down his back, meeting him from time to time in thrusts, and when she wedged her hand between them he found her touching herself.

_Bullseye_, Daryl thought. He might not know where a clit was before, but he had a pretty good idea from the way she was reacting right this moment that he might have just let her lead him there. Daryl moved her hand and tried to do his best to pay attention the attention to the hard nub that it was due while not losing his own concentration.

And when Carol clenched around him and cursed at him, something he'd rarely ever heard her do, he couldn't hold himself any longer and he let himself go, a louder noise escaping him than he'd intended as he pulled her to him.

When they were done, Daryl took a minute to get himself together. Still panting he got up and gathered together the used condom and the wrapper, starting to get himself into his clothes.

"I can run that down ta the trash," he said.

Carol still sat on the blanket. She looked at him as he wrestled into his pants.

"Daryl…" she said. "Come here."

"What?" Daryl asked.

Carol patted the poncho.

"Come here," she repeated.

Daryl came over and sat down and Carol leaned against him, her breasts rubbing on his chest. She brought her mouth to his and he returned the kiss, allowing her to hold it as long as she wanted. When they broke apart, she smiled at him and placed a few light kisses on his chest before she patted his chest and got to her feet.

"You did good, Daryl," Carol said. "You did real good…and I'll take the trash down."

Daryl watched as she started to put on her own clothes and he reached around, finding his shirt on the floor and pulling it on. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond.

"Better?" He asked finally.

"Much," Carol said.

"I like ya better too," Daryl admitted.

Carol chuckled.

"We'll work on the rest…" Carol said.

"I like the sound a' that," Daryl admitted, putting his socks and shoes back on.

"You know?" Carol said. "Me too…"

She gathered up the discarded condom and wrapper after she pulled her oversized coat on.

"I'm going to take this down and I'll be back for watch," Carol said. She started out the tower and stopped at the door. "Maybe next time we'll even negotiate a little on cuddling," she added before stepping through the door and letting it fall closed behind her.

Daryl didn't know much about cuddling, but he guessed he was going to get to find out about it. It didn't sound like his kind of thing…but if she liked it then he guessed he could try and suck it up if he had to. Tonight had been pretty good…after all…and he really did like the idea that there was more to this that he could learn.


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: Here we go, another little update for you guys! **

**I'm glad to see that you're all excited that Daryl and Carol are starting to get their stuff together. They've got a way to go, but they're at least headed in the right direction, right? As always, I thank you for your comments and reviews. You guys rock!**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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When a series of storms set in during the following days, everything at the prison came to an odd and screeching halt. Runs weren't being made because the rain that came in unexpected patches only served to stir up Walkers and make the ground soggy and more difficult to navigate if anyone had to break into a good solid run.

Even water runs were only taken in dire situations and Carol had set most of the buckets out to collect the rainwater where it ran down off the corners of the roof with some force.

They'd also discovered a few leaks inside the prison that were going to have to be taken care of if they weren't going to cause problems later on.

And the cold and the rain had everyone in slightly gloomy spirits, to say the least.

Carol kept up with her jobs around the place, but meals weren't what they could be without the ability to start a fire anywhere and they weren't daring to run the generators until they knew whether or not they were going to be able to successfully move the ones that Daryl and Rick had found to supply power for the surgery that Lori would need to deliver the baby.

Carol knew those days were drawing nearer too. Lori was jumpy, to say the least, and Carol really didn't blame her. Looking forward to surgery before all this happened could make someone a little off kilter, but surgery done in a prison office wasn't as appealing as it had been in a hospital ward.

Rick was a mess, though he tried to disguise it. He busied himself by keeping everyone else busy. If you weren't on watch then it was best for you to try and look like you were doing something, otherwise you'd be given something to do. Many of the jobs didn't even really matter, in the long run, since the ones that did matter weren't going to happen until Georgia decided to get over whatever weather temper tantrum she was deciding to throw.

But regardless of all that was going on around her, Carol was in pretty good spirits. No one suspected, or at least she didn't think they did, that she and Daryl were making the same use of the watch tower at night that Maggie and Glenn made of it whenever they managed to get a watch session together. Alice was the only one that knew for sure, and Carol suspected that everyone else was too wrapped up in their own situations to even care that she and Daryl were trying to figure out what in the world it meant…or if it even went beyond sex.

What was clear was that Daryl didn't want anyone to know. He seemed to have an almost irrational fear that as soon as they all found out about their little affair…or whatever it was…that everyone was going to start harassing him nonstop.

Carol tried not to let his secrecy bother her. It wasn't that she expected him to act like Glenn and dote on her the way that Glenn doted on Maggie…not exactly. She wasn't really sure what she expected, though. She thought that if they quietly let it be known that people would barely even notice. Once they got their initial ribbing out of the way, it would just be old news in the prison.

Carol didn't know how to explain to him, though, that her heart broke a little every time he scrambled to rid the watch tower of any evidence of what they'd done, or every time he looked around nervously when she got close to him, or every time that he felt the need to reiterate that she not speak to anyone besides Alice about it, since he had accepted that the woman already knew what was happening and clearly wasn't sharing her information with others.

Carol knew that Daryl's secrecy was something that was important to him…and it was something tied up in who he was, or at least what he had experienced long before he knew her…but she didn't know how to explain to him that every time he acted in those manners she felt like he was rejecting her, or he was ashamed of her. She had to work to keep the voices in her head from convincing her that his secrecy wasn't something that was just related to Daryl not wanting other people minding his business and instead was something that had to do with him not wanting them to know that it was her that he was with. She wondered, sometimes, if it would be different if it had been someone younger…someone prettier…if he might have not insisted so strongly that no one find out what was happening.

She didn't say anything to him, though. She didn't want him to pull away because he thought she was daring to give him ultimatums. She wasn't giving him any ultimatums at all, actually. She was letting things go his way. The way that he wanted it was fine with her. At least she had something.

Carol made her way up to the watch tower when she knew that T-Dog and Alice were on watch together. She figured it wouldn't be too difficult to send T-Dog off on a break, since everyone jumped at the chance to get out of watch duty when they weren't using the tower for extracurricular activities.

When she walked in the door she found Alice and T-Dog locked in some kind of wrestling match on the floor, Alice laughing hard enough that she was barely breathing and protesting something while T-Dog remained calm, only chuckling from time to time.

"What is going on here, you two?" Carol asked. She couldn't help but laugh at the state of them. It was like coming in to find two children had been left on watch instead of two supposed adults. The two split quickly, looking at her.

Alice slowly calmed from her laughing fit.

"She's got this stupid octopus thing and I told her if she hit me with it again it was going over the side of the tower," T-Dog said with a chuckle.

Alice kicked at him.

"And I told him that I'm babysitting Herbert until the baby gets here and he doesn't need to go over the side of the tower in the mud just because he doesn't have the ability to move his big head any quicker than he can," Alice said.

Carol shook her head, chuckling at both of them.

"Is this what the rain has reduced you to?" She asked, sitting down on the floor between them and hugging her knees up around her chest.

"Well, we were actually watching things for a while," T-Dog said, "but there isn't much happening out there that wasn't happening out there two hours ago."

"Walkers are lining up two by two," Alice offered. "I think there's a cluster of those fuckers over there by the fence that are trying to build an ark."

Carol chuckled.

It hadn't rained quite that much, but it had been more than they'd seen in a good long time, and especially for the season. It was enough to start driving everyone a little mad.

Carol sighed.

"I'll keep Alice company for a bit," she said, looking in T-Dog's direction. "Why don't you go down? Get a snack? There's some vegetables leftover from lunch."

T-Dog chuckled a little and wrestled to his feet.

"If you want me out of your little gossip nest, all you have to do is say so," T-Dog said. "I don't want to be here listening to you two talk any more than you want me here. Just come and get me when you're done."

T-Dog started out the door after Carol smiled and nodded at him.

"Bring me a granola bar when you come back…" Alice called, just as T-Dog stepped out of the tower. "What's up?" Alice asked as soon as he was gone.

Carol reached over and picked up the discarded purple octopus that the two of them had apparently been fighting over which now lay abandoned on the floor. She held it him, smiling a little at the goofy expression the small stuffed toy wore. She held it in Alice's direction, raising her eyebrows.

Alice chuckled and took it from her, sitting it on the floor between them.

"It was in a random box," Alice said. "It humors me…and I figured the baby can have it when it's here. Kid's going to need some toys and shit. Just because it lives in a prison doesn't mean it has to live like a convict."

Carol nodded her head.

"So, what's on your mind?" Alice asked. "You've got that look."

"What look?" Carol asked.

Alice sat up, nearing Carol and wrapping her arms around her own legs.

"That look of Carol has something on her mind," Alice said. "And it's not the apparently better sex that you've been having because that's an entirely different look altogether."

Carol chuckled.

"I guess I'm just wondering if this thing with Daryl…whatever it is…if he's, I don't know, if he's ashamed of me or if he's just secretive about it because he doesn't know how to be in a relationship," Carol said, resting her chin on her knees.

Alice laughed and scooted back, leaning against the wall. She picked the octopus up and absentmindedly tossed it back and forth between her hands.

"Oh fuck no!" She declared. "I'm not touching that shit with a ten foot pole…you want to work this shit out for yourself then do it. Ask him why the hell he doesn't want anyone to know about you."

Carol made a face.

"I don't want to come right out and ask him," Carol said. "I don't want him to think that I'm trying to say that he has to tell everyone about it…I guess I just worry that it's me."

Alice sighed.

"Well if you're not going to ask him then you're never going to know for sure," Alice said. "I don't think it's you, though. He'd be an idiot to be ashamed of that shit. Maybe he just doesn't know how it works…I mean for most of us the first time we admitted we had a crush on someone even was scary as hell. Maybe he's stuck in the scary as hell part of life right now."

"So?" Carol asked. "So I should just come right out and ask him? And what if he says it is me?"

Alice chuckled and shook her head.

"Then it's the same damn thing it's always been. It's the same damn thing it always will be if you're playing with others. Do you walk or do you fucking stay. You've gotta decide how much that shit means to you and go from there," Alice said. "Either way, at least you've got your answer."

"I guess so," Carol said.

She really didn't know when she'd gather up the nerve to ask Daryl something like that. Her mind offered her all these horrible scenarios and she wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of acting any of them out in real life. Still, she knew that it was true that he wasn't going to just up and change the way that he was doing things if he didn't think there was any reason to change them.

Carol could already tell that Daryl was a man of comfortable ways and well-worn paths. If it wasn't broke, there was no reason to fix it. He was already demonstrating those views in what short lived sex life they had and there was no reason for her to believe that he would change the way he acted about anything if he wasn't given some reason to believe that another way might be somehow better or more beneficial to him.

Carol sighed and stayed where she was, Alice's feet against her thigh, looking out at the rain that was perhaps the culprit for making everything seem darker and more dramatic than it had to be.

"Do you think that you and T-Dog will make the run soon?" Carol asked, obviously startling Alice who was daydreaming and fiddling with the legs of the octopus.

Alice shrugged and looked out.

"Whenever the fucking Georgia sky decides to stop crying over every damn thing she's lost, we will," Alice said. "Shouldn't be too big of a deal. The generators are outside of the hospital and T says there's a construction site not a mile from there. We'll steal a trailer truck from there and something to move them with, take it back to the hospital, load everything up, and haul it back here. Badabing badaboom."

Carol chuckled.

"Everything's so easy these days, huh?" Carol replied, smiling at Alice.

"Fucking piece of cake," Alice said. "If I'd known how fucking stress free my life would have been, I might have hoped for this shit a long damn time ago."

"Mmmm…" Carol moaned, turning back to watch the rain a bit longer.

"Not all that much has changed, you know?" Alice said after a few minutes. "I mean it's all still the same fucking idea. People would always eat your ass…it's just that before they were alive and doing it consciously. It's almost easier to forgive the fuckers these days. At least they're dead. It's the live ones you've gotta look out for."

"You say that like you think we're not the only ones left," Carol said.

She wasn't really sure how she felt about the probability that there were others out there. In all truthfulness she wasn't under the illusion for even a moment that they were the only remaining survivors left in the world. It was difficult, though, to imagine the others that were out there and what they were like and how their lives might be different from the life that they were trying to construct within the prison walls.

"Oh we're not the only damn people left alive," Alice said. "Not by a long shot. Hell, I know there were plenty of people built better than me for surviving this shit. It's just a matter of where the hell they are and who is left to think about. I mean even within this group…the dog eat dog mentality is still there."

Carol turned toward Alice and frowned.

"You really thing that about our group?" Carol asked.

The only problem behind her words was that there was a part of her that was silently in agreement with Alice, though she tried to convince herself that the part of her brain that said that the group wasn't as unified as it pretended to be was simply another of the voices that she had that told her lies.

Alice chuckled.

"You serious?" Alice asked, raising her eyebrows. She was quiet for a moment, continuing her fiddling. "I mean…I'm not saying that anyone's "not good people," she said, raising her fingers to make air quotes at Carol. "On the contrary…I'm just saying that not much has changed. We still look out for own…for ourselves…and at the end of the day we'll eat anyone that doesn't serve our needs."

Carol looked at her, but didn't respond.

"Look at it this way," Alice continued. "Lori…she's that typical basic bitch that everyone knew in the previous world. She treats me like I'm a fucking leper unless she needs something, or she's searching for reassurance about this kid. Then she's up my ass until I tell her I'm here to serve her. Rick…same damn thing basically. He's wrapped up in his shit…or mostly he's wrapped up in her shit, and that's probably because she taught him a long damn time before any of these dead fuckers starting walking around that her shit was all that mattered. He's so damn wrapped up in this kid that might not be his that neither damn one of them pay that other kid enough attention to keep him from electrocuting himself if he was still likely to stick a fork in a fucking electrical socket."

Carol chuckled softly and rubbed her face against her knee to stifle the laugh.

"And Santa Clause?" Alice said, raising her eyebrows. "He's a nice old man…but most old people usually are. They're trying to rack up those fucking points to get into heaven like a kid on last call at the arcade. Maggie and Glenn are tangled up in each other so much that they've damn near got their heads so far up each other's asses until they make a big damn circle. That other girl…Beth…she's just hanging out, hoping if she closes her eyes tight enough all this shit's going away and she'll be shopping at the mall before you know it."

"And the rest of us?" Carol asked, timidly.

Alice chuckled a little and leaned her head back against the wall.

"And the rest of us…" Alice said. She shrugged. "You and Daryl have each other…or you will if you'll both get your damn heads out your own asses long enough to see it. You're good people, though…and I don't think that'll change. I think what happens to you now…what you become when the world is fucking insane…well it's got to have a hell of a lot to do with what you were before the shit hit the fan."

"And you?" Carol asked. "What were you before this all happened?"

"A workaholic," Alice responded. She shrugged. "My whole fucking life revolved around that stupid hospital. I'm kicking my own ass for it now. I thought I was doing good, you know? Change someone's life for the better and somehow you're going to feel great about yourself and shit works out. That's just good damn karma there. Then the world goes to hell in a hand basket and you realize what the fuck was really important to you…but it's too late then."

"Like when you die, I guess?" Carol asked.

Alice snickered.

"When you die…when someone else dies…really when anything comes to a definitive end and you can't get it back by offering to crawl through hell on your knees. That's when you figure out what the hell it meant to you…when you can't get it back," Alice said.

Carol frowned again.

"You mean your partner?" Carol asked. "What was her name?"

"Melodye…Mel…" Alice said. She smiled and put the octopus on the floor. "Yeah…I mean Mel I guess."

"You don't think she's alive?" Carol asked.

Alice shrugged and looked out at the Walkers growling along the fence lines below them in the drizzle that had settled in to depress anyone who wasn't there yet.

"I don't know, honestly," Alice said. "I hope to fuck she's alive, you know? Just to know that she didn't…"

Alice shook her head.

"She's alive," she said definitively.

"So maybe you'll find her," Carol said.

She'd had only a few conversations with Alice about her relationship with Melodye, but she knew that the two were very much in love and had obviously spent their lives…literally since they were children…that way. She also knew that Alice had wanted to go into the city to look for Melodye when the outbreak had reached its worst part and sent her previous group running for their lives, but she'd figured it was a lost cause to try to go into the center of town where Melodye supposedly was at the time.

Carol knew she was right in that thinking too. Remembering what it had been like, there was no way to go into the city. It was hard enough to get out and that's the way the flood was flowing. Still, she knew that Alice harbored some guilt for having not gone back, and she understood that too. That was something that most of them had in common, and maybe all of them had in common, there was more than enough guilt to go around.

Carol felt a little guilty when she thought about it. She'd counted on Alice so far to help her through figuring things out with Daryl and she'd barely stopped to think about how that might make someone feel who had lost their own good relationship.

"I'm sorry," Carol offered.

Alice looked at her and Carol thought, though she wasn't positive, that there were tears brimming in the woman's brown eyes.

"For what?" Alice asked.

Carol shrugged.

"For telling you everything about Daryl…for rubbing your face in it," Carol said.

Alice halfheartedly smiled at her and reached forward, squeezing Carol's calf.

"Hey…don't do that shit," Alice said. "You enjoy what the hell you've got and don't let anyone take that shit away from you. If you like it, then you hold onto it. You're not rubbing my face in it, no more than I'd be rubbing your face in it if I'd have met up with you guys with Mel in tow…just stop overthinking shit, OK? Last damn thing you want to do is fuck up whatever the hell this is that you've got going on. World could fuck it up for you before you know it…learn from other people's mistakes."

Alice moved her hand and pushed herself up.

"I'm going to see what the hell's keeping T with my granola," Alice said. "See if I can't get in a quick smoke too…might as well, right? Not like the cigs are gonna kill me. Can you hold down the fort here?"

Carol looked up at Alice and smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, I think I got it," Carol said.

"Might tell Daryl you need some help up here," Alice said with a wink. "He'll drop the whole damn pack of cigarettes and run then."

Carol chuckled and leaned her head back on her knee. Alice patted her on the head and started out the door.

"You forgot your octopus," Carol offered.

"Keep him," Alice said. "He can be the watch tower mascot. Just turn the little fucker to face the wall when Daryl gets here…don't want the poor damn thing to go blind."

Carol laughed and turned back to watch the rain. She heard the door close behind Alice and she waited, sleepily taking in the gray of the outside world, for Daryl to make his way up there to make use of what was left of the watch shift.


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: Happy Saturday everyone! I've been grading all day here, but I did want to get in a little update for everyone who was interested! **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl waited with T-Dog by the truck while Alice went to get the provisions that the two would take on the run with them. Daryl wasn't so sure that the run was going to go as smoothly as the two individuals thought it would, simply because there were far too many factors to consider.

They were attempting to make the entire run in one day and return to the prison before nightfall, even though the sun had already been up at least two hours. The reasoning behind wanting to complete the run in one day was simple and rational. There wasn't anywhere that seemed very safe to pass a night near either of the locations they'd be visiting and no one wanted to be outside the prison fences after nightfall because that was when Walkers seemed to be at their most active.

So the two had decided that the run could be completed in the span of one day. They'd refused the company of others, reasoning that they could move quicker on their own and accomplish what they needed to do without having to worry about the whereabouts of extra people that couldn't help much in the activities that actually needed to be done.

The rain that had been plaguing them had finally let up, though Daryl had already warned T-Dog to stay on the road and to turn back if the construction site they were planning on going to was too flooded or soggy to guarantee that they could move whatever vehicles they chose to "borrow" from whomever had owned them before hell had broken loose.

The last thing Alice and T-Dog needed to do was get stuck in the mud some damn where because they were trying to pull a run off before the ground was dry enough to guarantee them traction. Hell, Daryl had already seen Carol slip just outside the prison in the mud of the yard this morning. In his unprofessional opinion it was just too damn wet…and for whatever reason that got Walkers stirred up.

He had raised his concerns to both Alice and T-Dog this morning when he'd discovered that they intended to do this run today instead of waiting two or three more days to let everything dry up and give them a better chance to avoid running into difficulties because of the simple complications provided by Mother Nature.

They'd both said it would be fine, though. They'd go through with the plan because nobody had a fucking clue when Lori was going to have that kid, but Alice suspected it was soon…very soon…and if they were going to get the generators back and functioning in time to make sure that everything went as planned, they didn't need to drag their feet on getting out there and putting the their plan into action.

So it was just another one of those things…the same things they'd seen time and time again. Everything could go fine or it could be a fucking nightmare and there was no way of telling which was going to happen.

"Stay on pavement," Daryl said again to T-Dog. "Damn ground's so soggy it's like fuckin' quicksand. If ya get stuck ya ain't gettin' out if somethin's on ya tail."

"I know man," T-Dog said, clapping Daryl on the shoulder. "It's gonna be alright. Most of that construction site was pretty well asphalted and at the hospital we'll be practically in the parking lot. We're not trying to go off course here at all."

Daryl bit at his thumb and glanced back toward the prison where Alice was standing a moment and talking to Carol, holding a bag of food in one hand.

"Ya run into trouble, ya drop it an' get the fuck outta there," Daryl said.

Daryl wanted to say it wasn't worth losing anyone, but that was a catch 22 that he didn't want to get himself into. What it boiled down to was that they had the chance to lose people on the run, but they also had the chance to lose Lori and possibly her baby if the run wasn't made as soon as possible. The whole situation was a bad one…just like every damn situation just about since this whole thing started.

Daryl wasn't under any illusions that Rick was pressuring them both to make this run today. It was Alice's fault, really, for admitting that she thought the baby could come at any time. It had sent Rick into a bit of a high strung state, and that was the last thing that Rick needed given his already elevated mood with everything.

"Yeah…yeah…" T-Dog said. "We're gonna scope it out. Shouldn't be too much to it, but if it looks like we'll need help, we'll just come on back here and get some people to help out."

Daryl nodded slightly and then turned back to look at the women.

"Hey!" He yelled up toward them. "Hey! Alice! Light a fuckin' fire under ya ass, ya burnin' daylight an' both of ya gon' be Walker chow if ya out there wanderin' 'round in the dark!"

Alice waved in his direction and a minute later she came bounding toward the truck with Carol following slowly behind to see them off or to talk to Daryl one…he couldn't be sure which.

Alice got in the truck and slammed the door shut and Daryl nodded at T-Dog as he went around, climbing in and cranking the vehicle. Daryl stepped down to the gate and yanked it open, allowing the vehicle to pass through and killing the three or so Walkers that tried to take that as their chance to make it into the prison yard. He slammed the gate shut with a clang and locked it back.

Daryl turned and walked in the direction of the prison again, passing Carol that was standing there.

"Do you think everything's going to go alright?" Carol asked, catching his attention and making him pause to speak to her, casting a glance around to make sure that no one was really paying them any attention.

Daryl shrugged a little.

"It's got just as good a' chance a' goin' great as it does a' goin' ta shit," he replied. He wasn't going to try to even guess which way the wind was blowing.

"I just wonder if they shouldn't have taken someone with them," Carol said, crossing her arms and looking at him with the slightly worried look she got almost any time anyone left the prison gates.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Daryl said. "It's a two man job an' Alice ain't no man, but'cha can't tell her that."

Carol smiled at him and Daryl returned the smile without even thinking about it.

Since they'd been doing whatever the hell it was that they were doing together, Daryl found himself very confused about his emotions. He didn't know what was happening, not really, and that was a strange sensation for him. He preferred when he felt in control of things in life. He preferred to know what was going on around him, and he felt like this whole thing with Carol was way out of his league sometimes.

He knew that he cared for her and he knew that he cared for her beyond how he'd cared for anyone else in his life. He wanted her to be safe and he wanted her to be happy…he wanted to do whatever he could to make her life, what life they had now, as good as he could.

He liked the sex with her. Though she insisted, from time to time, that she was bad at sex and he'd probably much prefer it with someone who was "good at it", he mostly ignored her. He liked it just fine and if she was bad at it, he sure as shit couldn't tell.

And he tried to do what she wanted when they were together. She wanted this cuddling thing, and he tried to do that, but he wasn't sure how long was long enough and he felt awkward just lying there with her hugging against him. He felt like he was supposed to be doing something, only he didn't know what, and so he usually got antsy and ended it long before he could tell that she was ready for it to end.

It wasn't that he didn't like touching her. On the contrary, actually. He enjoyed touching Carol a good deal, especially when they were alone and he could touch her in any way she pleased and she never protested. He liked the nearness to her and the contact more than he might have imagined he would. But he still felt awkward in those quiet moments and felt like he was supposed to be serving some purpose, only he didn't have any idea what the purpose was.

And then there was the problem of keeping everything secretive among the group members. He didn't know exactly what he felt, or how to label it, and he didn't want people harassing him and trying to get an answer out of him. He didn't want to answer to anyone as to what this was or what it meant. It was better if everyone remained unaware of their watch tower activities and continued thinking of Daryl as merely Carol's friend…someone that he was close to in the group, but that was really the extent of it. At least then there were no questions to be answered that he didn't know the answers to.

Worrying that everyone else was going to figure it out, though, was starting to drive Daryl a little crazy. He'd been almost paranoid that people were going to be able to see it in his eyes or even smell it on him and that any day they'd be standing there, over breakfast perhaps, expecting clarification about something he couldn't pretend to even start to explain.

He'd dealt with it the only way that he knew how. He'd thrown himself into his work, tried to make sure he was always out trying to find some meat for them in the woods which more or less barren of animals at this point, or tried to keep busy filling one task after another that Rick cooked up for them to take care of.

Mostly it meant that Daryl was doing his best to avoid being seen alone with Carol or being seen talking to closely with her, touching her in any way, or even smiling at her without others around. He didn't know what might be the signal that would give it away to prying eyes, so he just avoided nearly everything that might raise suspicion. That meant, in general, he was avoiding carol as long as the sun was up and others were around.

The only time he didn't avoid her was at night. He'd take watch most every night and she'd come, quietly, and join him. Some nights she stayed for the whole night, sleeping curled on his poncho in the watch tower, and others she slipped back to the prison to her bed. There really wasn't any need, after all, for both of them to be on watch officially since there just wasn't anything to be watching for. Being on night watch essentially meant, at this point, that you were literally watching the night pass while others slept.

During the day he'd avoided her altogether except for once or twice when Alice was supposed to be on watch. She'd typically dismiss whoever her watch partner was if someone tried to take it with her, and then Carol would replace her while she slipped down to find Daryl, coming up with some reason or another to drag him away from the typically useless task that he was working at. Then the woman would sit in the stairway leading to the tower and smoke his cigarettes or read books from the library they'd found while he slipped up to the guard tower with Carol, confident that no one was going to find out what was going on up there because they believed Alice to be on watch and Daryl and Carol to be involved elsewhere with other activities.

And so now, with Carol in front him and worried about the run, Daryl was a little apprehensive about talking to her in the prison yard. Even the smile he'd let slip accidentally might be enough to give something away to a prying busybody like Glenn, Lori, or Hershel…all of which were notorious for minding other people's business when it didn't concern them in the slightest.

"Gotta go see what's up with Rick," Daryl said, gesturing his head in the direction of the prison. "We gonna look ta see if it's possible ta patch up them leaks we found 'fore they get outta hand."

Carol followed along beside him, though, refusing for the moment to take the hint and go back to washing clothes or cooking…or whatever it was she did when he didn't have sight of her.

"Wait a minute, Daryl," Carol called quietly.

Daryl reluctantly stopped in his journey toward the prison and turned around, impatiently waiting to see what it was she was going to have to say.

"What'cha want?" He asked when he saw that she was just going to stand there and stare at him strangely.

"You know they can't tell, right?" Carol said, keeping her voice low. Daryl heard it crack strangely, though, a little like his had when he'd gone through puberty. "You can talk to me, Daryl…in broad daylight…just like you always have."

Daryl nodded his head slightly and avoided her eyes by paying attention to what he was doing to the ground with the toe of his boot. He saw something there in her face and he wasn't sure exactly what it was. Maybe it was disapproval…or maybe it was disappointment. He wasn't positive what it was, but it was an expression that hurt him, and he hated seeing it just behind her eyes and knowing that she was making the face because he was doomed to be a lifelong fuck up.

"I know, Daryl…" Carol said, sighing a little. "I know that you don't want anyone to know…and no one does except Alice. No one's even paying us any attention right now and you can't even look at me."

Daryl looked at her then. He didn't want to admit to her that the reason he couldn't look at her had more to do with her expression and the way it made him feel than it had to do with the fact that he thought anyone might misinterpret him even looking in her direction while they had a conversation.

"I'm lookin' at'cha," Daryl responded.

Carol frowned at him then, the look intensifying.

"Whatever, Daryl," she said. "It doesn't matter. Go fix the roof."

Carol turned then and started toward the prison, her steps almost doubly as quick as they normally were. Daryl wasn't really sure what to do about it, but he figured that maybe he'd figure it out by watch that night. At least he had the day working on the roof, and whatever time he took to nap before watch, to get some kind of idea about why she looked like she did and what he could do about it without giving them away to anyone else.

Daryl sighed and went toward the prison himself, not moving nearly as quickly as she had since she'd already disappeared from his vision.

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Carol didn't really want to talk to anyone or deal with anyone and that was difficult given the position that she'd been more or less assigned to in the group. It seemed like all day people wanted her attention and they seemed to think that she should be in constantly high spirits or something.

All day, every day, she was being approached about one thing or the other. On the one hand it seemed that it had fallen into her lap that she was responsible for making sure that meals happened. That meant that she had to go through the supplies, keep track of it, and figure out how much was necessary for each meal.

Clothes had to be washed too. Oddly enough people only showed up now and again to even offer to help with washing things. Glenn had been nice enough to find her an antique scrub board on a run…that was about the biggest help that she got on a regular basis unless Alice stopped by to see if she needed a hand. Lori complained about sitting that long, and Carol forgave her for that…Maggie was always busy helping with Glenn and Rick…and Beth was more like a ghost than an active member of the group.

The regular and constant chores aside…the ones that everyone expected to be done but no one seemed to notice how or why they were done…there was always someone with some other problem that they expected Carol to solve. It ranged from helping Hershel or Alice with minor medical emergencies to helping Lori and Beth with their various emotional crisis to helping Glenn when he needed to bend someone's ear to helping clear Walkers out of the tombs, start and tend fires, or mend ripped clothing.

And though she wasn't one to complain and she kept her feelings to herself, today she felt like she'd reached some kind of boiling point. She wasn't going to go about on some kind of rampage and point out to the others that no one helped her with a damn thing, but she was going to stew about it, and that was her right.

She knew that everyone else had much more important things to do than she did and she knew that fixing leaks on the roof, finding food for her to get on the table, keeping Walkers at bay that might threaten them one way or another because they still lingered in the bowels of the prison…these were all really crucial activities.

She also realized that Lori had a lot on her mind and she didn't envy her being on the verge of birth at the end of the world…and Beth was just a kid and so was Carl. She really shouldn't expect anything of them…not like she did when her temper was as high as it was right now.

So Carol tried to stay out of everyone's way while she warmed water over a small fire to keep the water from making her hands ache and spent the day washing clothes for everyone. It really wasn't everyone's fault, after all, that she was annoyed. It had, in all reality, a lot less to do with the tasks that she was really pretty accustomed to and a lot more to do with the fact that she didn't know what to do with Daryl.

She loved being with Daryl in the watch tower at night. She liked that he allowed her to be his lover, at least in secret…but she hated the secrecy as well. It wasn't that she really wanted to dance around the prison and declare to the others that Daryl was regularly having sex with her…she doubted anyone would care, but that wasn't her style either, though she did consider him a man that any woman could be proud to say frequented her bed, or in their case poncho…but his obsession with keeping things secret was making him awkward with her anytime that she was wearing her clothes…and that was beginning to somewhat dampen the experience a little.

She felt like, as strange as it was to even think it, she'd been closer to Daryl when they weren't having sex. When he'd considered her just a friend and nothing more, there'd been a little physical contact between them and he'd been much warmer and much more willing to share a joke with her, tease her here and there…do all those little things that had made her fall in love with him.

Since they'd been sleeping together, though, and they had the sexual aspect of their relationship alive and well, it seemed that everything else had gone by the wayside. Not only did he not joke around with her like he did, but he seemed almost terrified to even be in the same room with her.

Carol felt silly to say it even to herself, but she was starting to miss Daryl. She thought, as much as she enjoyed the sex, that she'd give it up if it would bring him back to simply being friends with her like he had before…except now she feared there was no going back. The damage had been done, and unless she figured out some other way to break through to him, she was possibly doomed to simply being in a purely sexual…and secretive…relationship with him.

She knew, of course, that there were plenty of people that wouldn't complain about such a thing, but it saddened Carol because she felt like what they had before was so much more…and like there could be so much more to them if she only knew what to do to make Daryl not be so damn afraid that people would know what was going on between them.

But she didn't know what to do, and so she simply had to hide herself away to wash people's dirty clothes and pout, feeling almost a little spoiled because no matter what she did have…she wanted something more.

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When supper had come and gone and there was no sign of T-Dog or Alice, Daryl had to admit to himself that he was becoming nervous that something had happened and in his head he was trying to decide what would be the best thing for them to do. If they didn't come back, after all, Rick would be looking to him to help him decide what they should do, and Daryl figured it was a pretty good idea to go ahead and start working that out for himself.

It was too late to go after them. The sun was already hanging low in the sky and the failing light would bring the Walkers out fully. It was too dark to track them if he needed to, assuming he could even guess where they ran into trouble if that were the case. And honestly it was getting too dark to find them if they'd gone off the road much farther than twelve foot or so, and even less in areas of low visibility which were common in this area of Georgia.

Going after them wasn't an option, at least not until morning.

Unfortunately, Daryl knew that left them only one other option, and it wasn't going to be a comforting or appealing one for anyone. If they didn't come back on their own some time tonight, then Daryl and everyone else at the prison would just have to stay hunkered down and wait until morning.

With the sun up Daryl could go after them…take Glenn or maybe Rick…and he could try to find them and bring them back. But until the sun came up, all they could really do was sit around on their hands and hope that the two of them were well equipped enough to find a place and lay low until morning.

Daryl knew that Carol was getting antsy about it as well. She hadn't really spoken to him much during the day, but when he'd woken up from his nap he'd seen her walking the far side of the fence, watching the road for a sign of them coming. More often than that since he'd risen he'd heard her asking, over supper for example, if anyone had seen anything, and she kept making trips out to the watch tower to see if whoever was taking watch had spotted anything.

No one else seemed all that worried, though…at least not yet. Sometimes runs ran over time and Maggie and Glenn were prime examples of that. There had been many runs that the two had gone on that had lasted far longer than they were supposed to, but they always came straggling back. Most everyone else wasn't going to get worried until it was too damn dark to see your hand in front of your face…and then they wouldn't even have to ask if it was best to wait until morning.

Daryl was pacing the lower part of the fences when he saw the first faint flash of light. Normally the signs of light and life would be something they didn't want to see, no one having forgotten the Randall incident where other survivors proved to be a bad thing, but tonight Daryl was happy to see headlights dancing in the distance.

Daryl moved down to the gates as quickly as he could and waited until he heard the truck approaching to start unlocking them. Immediately he knew that the run hadn't gone as planned. If it had, they'd be coming back with one of them in the truck they left in and the other driving a trailer truck loaded with generators and whatever tractor they'd stolen.

All that was coming toward him, though, unless the other was far behind, was the truck they'd left in.

Daryl ripped the gate open and let the truck pull in. He rushed to close it and lock it back, expecting T-Dog, whom he'd only quickly glanced at as he pulled through in the semi darkness, to stop and give him an update.

T-Dog didn't stop the truck, though. Instead he headed right on up to the place where they parked. Daryl locked the gate and started after him, getting there at about the same time as Hershel, Rick, and Carol who had come out probably because of the lights.

Daryl knew, right away, that things weren't good though. As soon as T-Dog got out of the truck and faced them all, Daryl could tell that everything hadn't gone as planned. It was almost too dark to make out anyone's expressions too clearly, but what he could make out told him that T-Dog wasn't in a good place.

"I lost her," T-Dog said, addressing everyone that was looking at him with mixed expressions of horror and expectation. "Took us a lot longer than we planned to even get a single damn thing running. We didn't think that that the noise from the lift would draw so much attention, but they were on us before we could do anything about it. Small herd…maybe twenty five or thirty…but it was enough that we couldn't fight them off. We got split, ran in opposite directions. I barely made it to the truck in time and I tried to look for her once I was in…but it just took me too long, I guess."


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: Hi all! Long day here of grading and such, but I thought I would get you a little something out! **

**One week to go until Season 4 starts! Yippee! No worries, though, I don't intend to give up writing on my stories just because the new season starts. I can pretty much guarantee there will be no Sunday night updates, but I won't be giving up.**

**I hope you all enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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"So you just left her?" Carol asked when they'd all been ushered inside so that T-Dog could have water and sit down to rest. Everyone was gathered around now in the room they used as a dining room, having already been told the story of what had happened.

T-Dog ran his hand down his face, less in irritation and more in frustration at the situation from what Daryl could tell.

"I didn't have a choice," he said. "I looked for her…pulled the truck around to where I thought she went…but she was gone. I don't know if she went down in the Walkers or she ran…but she just wasn't there."

Daryl glanced around at everyone. It was evident from everyone's faces that they were taking the news roughly, but Daryl wouldn't venture to say that all their heaviness was brought on by the missing woman. It was Carol, though, who most clearly wore a look of shock and sadness on her face.

"We have to go back for her," Carol said. "We can't just leave her out there…"

"It's too dark to go back for her now," Rick said.

Carol started to protest and Daryl interjected in the name of reason.

"Rick's right," Daryl said. "It's dark. We'll never find her in this. She got left in a herd, she's not gonna be standin' on the side of the road waitin' for us ta just come an' pick her up."

Carol looked like he'd just said some of the cruelest words that he could say instead of like he'd merely pointed out what was the simple and harsh truth of the situation.

"Maybe tomorrow…" Rick started. "Maybe we could go back. Try to finish the job…try to find her."

"The baby is coming any day!" Lori snapped at him. "You can't go out there, Rick! What if something happens…you end up the same way."

Daryl realized that the two of them were more than likely going to have it out about this, and he hoped that Rick got Lori calmed down enough to at least have the fight elsewhere. He understood that they would be worried about their own situation, but Carol looked like she'd had the wind knocked out of her and he wasn't sure if she wasn't going to say she'd go on her own if he didn't do something to placate her. The last thing they needed was a fight setting her off.

"We need the generators for when the baby comes…" Rick said. "Hershel…you could handle the situation if you had to, couldn't you?"

Hershel shrugged a little.

"I can perform the operation," Hershel said. "It's a simple operation if everything goes as planned."

Daryl turned his head quickly when Carol scoffed. Daryl glanced at Rick and then back at Carol who had her mouth open and something akin to humor on her face, though he didn't believe she found any of this to be amusing in the slightest.

Daryl nodded his head a little.

"Tomorrow I'll go out there," Daryl said. He ignored Rick and Lori's problem of how to make the surgery go off without a hitch. He glanced back at Carol who was looking at him now. "See if I can't find her…at least track her a bit and try to see where she went. With the mud like it is she's bound to have left prints."

Daryl looked back at Rick who was squeezing at his temple.

"Someone's gotta go with you, Daryl," Rick said. "If you get out there and the herd's still in the area…whatever's left of them…you're going to need someone to go with you."

"Figure that out in the mornin'," Daryl offered. "Glenn, you oughta take night watch…but not with Maggie. Alice ain't dumb. She's likely ta make her way back ta the prison if she's alive an' ya need ta be out there ta let her in if she does…finally got somethin' ta watch for."

Glenn nodded, but didn't say anything.

Carol got up and quietly left the room, not speaking to anyone. Daryl watched her go and then turned his attention back to the bickering that was taking place again between Rick and Lori over whether or not the man would be one of them that went out the next day.

Daryl sighed at them and walked over to where T-Dog was sitting. He'd accepted water, but said he wasn't hungry and Daryl wasn't even pretending to believe that the man wasn't bothered by the situation as well.

Daryl walked over and hesitated a moment before clapping him on the shoulder.

"Glad ya made it back, brother," Daryl said.

T-Dog looked at him, shaking his head a little, letting an insincere chuckle escape.

"I'll go back with you tomorrow," T-Dog said.

Daryl nodded at him and excused himself to smoke and head to his perch. He wouldn't take night watch tonight. He'd try, if he could, to get some rest tonight, and hope that he could find the woman tomorrow.

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Daryl couldn't sleep. It was useless to even try. The prison was practically silent around him, though he could hear, from time to time, the sounds of Lori and Rick arguing quietly in one of the cells.

Daryl finally got up and slipped quietly out of his perch. He made his way to Carol's cell, careful not to draw attention, and slipped through the blanket there, wondering if she'd be asleep. It was dark in the cell, so it was impossible to tell. Daryl hovered a moment before turning to go back to his perch and let her sleep.

"I'm awake," Carol said softly.

A moment later the lamp beside her bed flickered to life and illuminated the space. Daryl bit at his lip. Carol was lying in her bed, but he could tell from her face that she hadn't been sleeping. She patted the bed and he came over, sitting down timidly on the edge of it.

"What's got'cha so worked up about this?" Daryl asked, keeping his voice low.

Carol looked at him and scoffed.

"She was my friend, Daryl…" Carol said. "And it's more than that…"

"What is it, then?" He asked.

Carol shrugged a little and picked at her blanket.

"It's what we do, right? We leave people. Jacqui and Jim…we left them because they wanted to be left. The others, though? Merle…Sophia…Andrea…Alice…they all got left behind," Carol said softly.

Daryl bit at his thumb.

"Merle was an asshole an' we went back for him…things didn't go well. An' I know it ain't easy but Rick did all he could do for Sophia. Dog saw Andrea go down…and Alice didn't have enough sense ta keep her ass close by. Ain't like nobody got left outta choice…things just happened that way. Weren't nothin' that could be done," Daryl said.

Carol nodded a little.

"There was nothing that could be done," Carol echoed. "They'd have left me behind too, you know? On the farm? Everyone was leaving…and I saw their taillights. I knew they were leaving me. And then you came for me."

Daryl shrugged a little.

"I heard ya screamin'. They were gonna leave me too if I hadn't circled back ta the highway with ya, run into Glenn and Dog…it was every man for himself tryin' ta get away from that herd," Daryl said.

"But you saved me," Carol offered.

"If I hadn't a heard'ja…well, I reckon I'da got ta the highway 'fore I knowed ya weren't there," Daryl said.

Carol tipped her head to the side.

"Would you have gone back for me?" Carol asked.

Daryl frowned a little. He would have gone back for her. He couldn't have just left her there, not knowing…He went back for Merle, and if Merle had stayed his ass put on that roof, he might have found him. If they hadn't run into so much trouble, he might have found him. One of his regrets was that he didn't look any harder or any longer for his brother than he did because they got caught up…things kept on going. Maybe that had been one, among others, of the reasons why he'd fought so hard to try to find Sophia and not just believe that the girl was as good as dead, even though now he knew she was and his brother was likely the same. But he would have gone back for Carol. He hated to admit it, but he didn't think he could have gone on not even knowing if she'd lived or if she'd died.

Daryl nodded gently.

"I'da gone back," he said.

Carol looked at him, her eyes almost piercing through him. She was quiet, though.

After a moment she dropped her eyes, her attention caught up again in the edge of the blanket she was worrying with her fingertips.

"Ever since we left the farm," she said. "I've felt guilty…bad…that we didn't go back for Andrea. T-Dog said he saw her go down, but I didn't see her at all after she saved me. She might have died…or she might not have…but we'll never know because we didn't go back."

Carol shrugged, not looking at Daryl. She shook her head slightly.

"There was no one who cared enough to go back for her," Carol said. She sighed and looked at Daryl again. "We didn't even care enough to go back for her and because no one stood up and said that we had to…that we couldn't leave without knowing…we just left her there."

Daryl bit at his thumb. He could tell this wasn't about Andrea and it wasn't about Alice. It was about nothing in particular and every single thing that they'd been through so far. It had just sort of bottled up and it was eating away at Carol at the moment.

"Hey," Daryl said, reaching out and tipping her face toward him. "I'm goin' out there tomorrow. I'll look for her. She ain't hard ta track. She walks heavy an' she pulls her left leg some…I'ma go out there an' see if we can get her back."

Carol halfheartedly smiled at him, nodding a little.

"I don't want'cha tryin' ta go with me, though," Daryl said, already worrying that the next day that would be her next big show and effort. "If she ain't made it…well I don't want'cha ta see it. OK? Ya don't need ta see it."

"Bring her back?" Carol asked.

Daryl nodded his head at her.

"We'll take the truck," he said. "If I gotta put her down, I'll bring her back."

Carol bit her lip and nodded at him.

Daryl hoped they found the woman. So far they'd been taught not to have any damn hope about any kind of rescue mission, and maybe that's what was behind the reason they didn't go back for Andrea. Maybe that's what was behind the overall hesitation about going back for Alice.

These days it didn't seem to work out in their favor if they went back. They hadn't found Merle and they had no idea what happened to him. They'd found Sophia, no telling how long after she'd been killed, and when they'd found her it had only served to let them know that their efforts were all futile. It wasn't like going back had proved to be worth it.

Carol sighed loudly and Daryl knew she was reliving a lot of things right now. Things he wished he could take away from her. Things that he wished he could solve for her. He couldn't, though. The most he could do was tell her that he'd go out there and he'd try to find her friend.

Daryl reached over and touched her cheek and she brought her hand up, wrapping it over his. She looked at him again and he could see tears brimming in her eyes, though she wasn't actually crying at the moment.

"Stay with me?" Carol asked softly.

Daryl hesitated.

"I wake up before everyone," Carol said. "I'll wake you up in time to get back to your perch. No one has to know that you stayed…just stay? I need you to be the big spoon," she finished, offering him a half smile.

Daryl brought his other hand, the one she wasn't holding onto, to his mouth and gnawed at the cuticle. He didn't know how he felt about staying in her cell. If everyone caught him sleeping there then the cat would surely be out of the bag, but it broke his heart to see her like this and know that there was nothing he could do…not a thing in the world…to help her…except maybe stay with her.

Daryl nodded slightly.

"Fine," he said.

Carol looked at him like she almost didn't believe him. He stood up and stripped off the clothes that he'd thrown on to come to her cell, leaving only his boxers on. The prison wasn't sound proof by any means and he knew that nothing would be happening between them since that would surely give them away…and he doubted she was in the mood anyway.

Carol moved and let Daryl get into the bed, closest to the wall, and she backed up against him, wrapping her body almost around his. Daryl brought his arm over her, hugging her again and remember the first night that he'd dared to do this…the same night, he thought, that he'd given Alice a black eye that he teased her about for days.

Carol sighed and she rooted a bit in the bed, flushed as tight against him as she could be. Daryl got comfortable and waited while she raised up only long enough to turn out the lamp, bathing them in darkness, and then snuggled back against him again.

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Carol kept her promise to Daryl. As soon as she woke up she rolled over and roused him from his sleep. She had slept better than she thought she would, with his arm wrapped tight around her, but she knew that he'd be horrified if they were discovered and anyone knew that he'd passed the night with her.

He'd kissed her, softly, as he rolled over her and got out of the bed, and she'd lied there and watched him dress and leave quietly so as not to alert anyone else.

When he was gone, Carol got up and quickly dressed herself. She wanted to get breakfast going so that Daryl and whoever was going with him could have something to eat. She was already hoping for a good day for them all, but especially for Daryl and his search.

She wanted to go with them, honestly, but Daryl wouldn't stand for it and she'd already promised him that she wouldn't insist. She felt like her being there, waiting on the sidelines, would be a distraction for Daryl, and he needed as few distractions as possible if he was going to find Alice.

While Carol was making breakfast, stirring the oatmeal, Lori approached, hovering over her and rubbing her belly.

"So Daryl's going," Lori said. "Rick's insisting on going to. Said they were leaving T-Dog here."

"Why isn't T-Dog going?" Carol asked. She was always farther out of the loop than Lori was. It was mostly owing to the fact that she spent most of her time doing the things that needed to be done and less of it trying to make sure that everything that everyone else was doing was going to be the way that she wanted it.

Lori sighed and Carol glanced up at her to see the woman looking around.

"He's shook up and Rick thinks that if he goes he won't be in the best frame of mind if they run into trouble," Lori said.

Carol nodded, more to herself than to Lori.

"Makes sense," she said. "T-Dog cared for Alice. They were friends."

"Rick doesn't need to be going out there," Lori protested. "If two people weren't safe out there yesterday, what makes them think that two people will be safe out there today?"

"It's Daryl and Rick," Carol offered. She wasn't going to pretend that she wasn't worried at all. She was always worried when they went out on any kind of run or adventure, and she was always concerned about Daryl when she couldn't see him, but if any two of them had the ability to make it anywhere on their own it was Daryl and Rick. "They're the best two for the job. They'll look out for each other."

Lori raked her fingers through her hair.

"What about the baby?" Lori asked. "It can come any day…that means today too. What if something happens out there? What if something happens to me? What about Carl? What is he going to do?"

Carol realized that Lori wasn't necessarily asking any of these questions because she wanted answers, but Carol figured the least she could do was offer her friend what reassurance she could.

"They're going to be back," Carol said. "Nothing's going to happen out there. If the baby comes…if it's time…then T-Dog can help Hershel and get things running with the power that we do have. You'll be fine and the baby will be fine. There's nothing to worry about."

Carol knew it was a lie. These days there was never "nothing to worry about". Everything was something to worry about, but really the worry did very little to actually change anything, so it was one of those things that they might as well simply let it go when they could. There was no need reinforcing it when Lori was already doing a great job of worrying all on her own.

Lori looked at Carol then and Carol could see the vein in her forehead protruding, probably from the stress.

"Carol…promise me that if something happens to me…promise me that you'll help Rick look out for Carl…and the baby if it makes it," Lori said.

Carol nodded her head and smiled, bringing herself up off her knees. She dusted herself off and wrapped her arms around Lori.

"Of course I would help him," Carol said. "We'd all help him. But nothing is going to happen."

Lori nodded at her, taking obviously deep breaths as she pulled away.

"I just need to know that if something does happen…there's going to be someone looking out for them…Rick's going to need help," Lori said.

Carol nodded and squeezed Lori's shoulder, offering her the best reassuring smile she could muster up for the morning.

"Of course…everyone's going to look out for them. And nothing's going to happen. You just need to be calm and everything's going to be fine," Carol offered, trying hard to believe her own words despite her overall darker mood for the morning.

Once Lori was calmed down sufficiently, Carol called everyone to breakfast and made sure that Daryl and Rick both got the largest portions that she could spare for them without anyone really noticing the favoritism. If they were going out there, though, without knowing what they might run into, they didn't need to do it on empty stomachs.

Carol got rations together for them and walked down to the gates with Carl to let them out. As they got into the truck to go, she wished them both luck and watched as Carl spoke briefly to his dad about his duties of "taking Rick's place" in his absence.

She wanted to walk over and kiss Daryl…or hug him at the very least…anything before they sent them out the gates…but she restrained herself. Daryl hadn't changed his feelings on keeping their relationship a secret and she hadn't pushed it at all or really even brought it up. That would be another topic for another day. Today they were going to see if they could finish what had been started the day before…if it was even possible at all not to abandon the plan altogether…and they were going to see if they could find Alice. That was enough on Daryl's plate for one day.

So Carol stood back with Carl while the truck passed out of the gates and helped him get back the few Walkers that would slip in if given the chance. Then she started to walk around, turning a million different thoughts over in her head, and stabbing Walkers through the fences to keep them from building up.

It was going to be a long day for her, and she knew that. She would probably spend the whole thing just trying to keep busy until they finally managed to make it back with…if not good news…at least some news.


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: I'm a little later than usual getting this out, but it's been a long day here. I did want to give a little update here, though, so here you have it.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Rick drove the truck in semi-silence from the prison out to the construction site where T-Dog said they would find the scene of the Walker attack. Daryl leaned against the window, gnawing at his thumb and observing the handfuls of random, straggling Walkers that littered the roadside and the lightly wooded areas on each side.

Daryl hated to give way entirely to the negativity that plagued him at this point, but he couldn't believe that they were going to find Alice alive at the construction site. If she was alive, she'd only remained so by moving or by finding somewhere to hold up so that the Walkers nearby couldn't get to her. She wouldn't be, as he had thought before, standing by the roadside waiting to see if they'd be back. If she was at the site, then she'd likely be coming back to the prison with them wrapped in the sheets that he'd tossed in the back just in case of such a situation.

Rick had been silent for the majority of the trip, and Daryl assumed that it was likely that things weren't real good on the home front with Lori. The whole prison knew they'd fought about this particular run, it hadn't been secret in any way whatsoever, and Daryl contributed Rick's mood mostly to that.

"Can you drive a truck?" Rick asked finally, breaking the silence between them.

Daryl was a little caught off guard by the question.

"Ain't had no formal trainin' nor nothin', but I reckon I could figure it out," Daryl said.

Rick nodded his head a little, his eyes on the road.

"That's going to be the only way to move those generators. T-Dog said they had the lift near the truck and were about to load it, but they had to abandon it for the Walkers. We'll look for the woman and then we can load the lift and see about the generators," Rick said.

"Alice," Daryl offered. "Woman's name is Alice."

Rick nodded again, a soft chuckle escaping him.

"Alice," he corrected.

Daryl knew that the woman had a tendency to get on people's nerves. Hell she pissed him off more than she didn't, but Carol was fond of her and he figured that if she was dead the least they could do for her memory, or whatever the hell it was, was use her name.

"Shouldn't take too long to find her," Daryl said. "Or at least figure out what the hell happened to her. If she's a Walker…well, ain't no tellin' where the hell she's ended up."

"Do you think that's what we're out here to do?" Rick asked. "You think she's a Walker?"

Daryl chuckled more out of the need to respond in some way than the fact that he found any humor at all in the situation.

"Got as gooda chance ta be a Walker as not," Daryl said. "We out here ta try to figure out what the fuck happened to her…"

"For Carol?" Rick asked.

Daryl didn't know if Rick or anyone else had any idea about the relationship that was going on between Carol and himself. As far as he knew, no one knew. No one asked about it and no one said anything about it, so he just assumed that no one had any idea. Something in Rick's tone, though, made his blood run cold for a second just like when he was a kid and he'd get busted for doing some shit he ought not to have done.

Daryl shrugged, deciding to play it off as best he could. He wasn't willing to admit that the only reason he was on this particular mission was in the hope of helping Carol with whatever emotional distress it seemed to have triggered for her…whatever insecurity had risen up about the group.

And maybe part of it was that he wanted to fucking return her friend to her. He'd failed in bringing back Sophia, despite his best efforts, and though Alice was nothing in comparison, he still felt like he wanted to bring her back. He wanted to be able to show Carol, as odd as it may seem, that he could return something that she cared about…he could find someone…even if he never found Sophia.

Daryl shifted in his seat.

"They were friends," Daryl said. "Carol'd like ta at least know if she's alive or dead…hell…I'd like ta know if she's alive or dead. Ain't gonna hurt ta cast an eye around. Would want someone ta do it for me."

Daryl hoped his explanation, thrown together on the spot, would be enough to handle whatever curiosity was brewing in Rick about the whole endeavor.

Rick didn't say anything else or ask anything else, though, before they came up on the construction site that they were looking for. Just like T-Dog had said they'd find it, they found the truck and the lift parked together, obviously abandoned mid action since the lift was actually parked on the ramp going up to the truck.

Rick pulled the truck they were in to a stop with the nose almost touching the semi that had been parked in place. Daryl glanced around at the site and counted about a six Walkers milling about in plain sight.

"I got half a dozen over here," he said to Rick.

"Three on my side," Rick said.

"Get them an' I'll see if I can't put these guys down…we don't know any of 'em on your side, do we?" Daryl asked, his hand going to the door handle.

Rick studied the three Walkers on his side before shaking his head and grunting.

"Not her," he said.

"Let's do it," Daryl said, yanking the door open and hopping out. He didn't bother to close the truck door and instead immediately raised his bow and took down one of the Walkers a short distance away before stabbing a closely approaching one through the eye with the next arrow up. He loaded and took down another, repeating the exercise until the half dozen Walkers were dropped.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, none of the Walkers were Alice, though he closely examined one of them that had obviously been female but lost most of her face, apparently, before she turned. He'd known it wasn't Alice, though, simply by sliding her sleeve up with the tip of his arrow and noticing that the Walker didn't have the band tattooed around her arm that he'd seen on Alice.

"Ain't her," he said, looking back at Rick who was standing by the truck.

"Now what?" Rick asked.

"I'ma see if I can't pick up their tracks before we go muckin' it up any worse than it is," Daryl said. "See if I can't get an idea for where the hell she went."

"What do you want me to do?" Rick asked.

"Hang tight," Daryl said. "Keep an eye out for any friends comin' ta join us."

Rick nodded slightly and Daryl went to work.

The site was a mess as far as tracking was concerned. It was mostly concrete, and therefore not very conducive to tracking, but the fine dusting of red Georgia sand over it provided Daryl with a little insight. There'd clearly been a large number of Walkers that had passed through, and they'd disturbed most everything around the truck itself. Daryl eased forward, though, and found T-Dog's tracks going in one direction. Since the two had split, he could guess that going in the other direction, or somewhere close to it, would help him find some sign of Alice.

He found the first of her tracks not long after he found T-Dog's. Her gait was distinct because of a pulling of the left leg. His unprofessional opinion would be that she'd probably broken the leg at some point, or the ankle, and it hadn't healed correctly. Looking at her it wasn't noticeable, but if she ran or got too tired, there was a slight limp to her walk.

In her tracks, though, it was like a signature.

Daryl followed her tracks as best he could, though there were places were there wasn't enough sand to keep up with them and others where Walkers had almost wiped them out.

He could guess, though, that she was headed either for the wooded area not far from there or a small metal trailer that was probably once used as a temporary type of office. Daryl eased on forward, glancing back and seeing Rick still leaning against the truck and watching him.

He got to the metal building and rapped on it, but he didn't hear anything stirring inside. He reached out, yanking the door open, and backed flat against the door in case there was anything in there. A stench leaked out of the space and he knew it wasn't someone who had only been dead a day or two.

Daryl glanced inside the space and satisfied that the only sorry bastard in there was one who had "opted out" many moons ago, he turned back and headed toward the wooded area, watching the ground for anything that might indicate specifically that Alice had passed through here and not just a jumble of Walkers.

He finally found another of her tracks, but only a few steps further he found something that turned his stomach. There was a good deal of blood and signs of a scuffle, accompanied by drag marks. He looked around and thought that he could identify at least one other set of tracks, but it was hard to make out in the confusion of the area.

Daryl ducked his head and walked slowly back toward where Rick was waiting, having now moved only to take down a passing Walker that had taken some interest in him.

"Well?" Rick asked as Daryl approached.

Daryl shook his head.

"Hard ta tell," he said. He chewed his lip. "Walkers got her or…"

He trailed off. He didn't want to admit that he had the feeling that she'd found someone else…he was pretty sure there was at least one set of non Walker tracks near the drag mark. Suggesting, though, that there were other people around without being sure could bring on panic.

Regardless…she was gone…and there was blood so it was probably safe to say that by Walker or not, she was dead.

"Or what?" Rick asked.

Daryl glanced at him and shook his head.

"Nothin'," he said. "She ain't here. Went down over there an' there's a mess a' blood. She's either up an' walkin' or they ain't nothin' left ta find…either way….she ain't here."

Rick nodded his head, swallowing. He nodded again after a second.

"What are you going to tell Carol?" Rick asked.

Daryl shrugged.

"Truth," he said. "Can't bring back what'cha can't find, but Alice ain't 'round these parts no more."

Rick nodded again and reached out, clapping Daryl on the shoulder.

"Let's see if we can't get this loaded up and figure out how to get it to that hospital," Rick said.

Daryl nodded at him, gnawing at his thumb and thinking over what he'd seen and what all it might mean if there were others in the area.

"Prob'ly gon' need help loadin' an' unloadin' them things," Daryl said. "I don't know how ta drive this shit."

"We'll at least get the truck to the hospital, some way. That'll cut the run short for T-Dog or whoever thinks they can manage loading them. We can get it done tomorrow if you and me can't figure it out today," Rick said.

Daryl nodded.

"Go ahead an' load the lift," Daryl said. "I'll cover ya…keep an' eye out for Walkers," Daryl said.

Rick got started and Daryl kept watch, taking down the few Walkers that came and keeping an eye out for the possibility of an approaching herd. He turned, over and over in his mind, what might have happened when T-Dog left Alice behind, but there really wasn't any way to put the scene together definitively.

He really mostly felt sorry that he would show up, yet again, empty handed…he'd let Carol down.

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Carol was in the yard and walking back up toward the prison, absentmindedly, to start dinner. They took turns, all of them really, watching out for Rick and Daryl. Beth was officially on watch with Hershel in the guard tower, both of them keeping an eye out on the road for when Rick and Daryl might be back.

It was hard to judge how long it would take the two men. Daryl was good at tracking, but Carol wasn't really sure how long it took to track someone. She imagined the run would be shorter if Alice was alive or simply hiding close by, which was what she was clinging to, but it could take longer if Daryl had to go, perhaps, farther out to find her.

Then there was the whole the issue of the generators. Honestly the whole thing made Carol nauseous to think about. It had shed a sort of light on the situation for her, a light on the group, and she was beginning to feel that she might have been more comfortable remaining in the shadow.

She could forgive Lori, for the most part, for her somewhat flippant attitude of what had taken place the day before…and Rick too for that matter. The fact that the generators were of great importance to both of them was only reasonable. Lori was afraid of what might happen, and Rick might too. So she was doing her best not to hold it against either of them that they were far more concerned with the fact that the run had gone sour than they were that T-Dog might have been lost and that Alice was.

She was trying. It still made her wonder, though, at least a little bit if they might be like that her…with anyone really…and maybe it was just human nature. If she was lost…if it had been her instead of Alice…would they simply be sorrier that they'd lost someone to do their laundry and cook their meals than they would actually be over her loss?

Carol tried to shake the thoughts out of her mind, though. She knew that they were just there, plaguing her, because of all the other things that were going on. She had a lot on her mind with Daryl. Things were more than tense around the prison…old demons were rearing their heads. Her mind was just giving her a rough time of it because it had the fodder to burn for the moment.

One thing she wasn't trying to do, though, was hide the fact that she was upset about Alice. The woman had been her friend…and on a different level even than the other women she'd known in the group. She hoped that Daryl found something…at least there could be some closure if nothing else.

Carol knew that when everything had happened with Sophia…when she'd finally gotten control of herself and her emotions…she'd been grateful for the closure. The end was tragic and having proof of the end was painful, but at least there was no more wondering, no more fretting, no more paranoid scenarios for her brain to throw at her. There was closure. There hadn't been closure for some of the others that they'd lost, and from time to time her brain took advantage of that, especially when she slept. So the very least she hoped for was closure.

Carol neared T-Dog and the man glanced at her. He was ambling about, aimlessly really, but when he saw her he tried to take a quick interest in the fence near him as though he was inspecting it.

Carol knew that he was torn up about this…more than he probably wanted to admit. He was taking it hard and she felt sorry for him. Alice had been his friend too, and she imagined that he probably felt guilty for being back behind the fences when Daryl and Rick were looking for her. Survivor's guilt was something Carol wasn't a stranger to.

"How are you doing?" She asked, somewhat softly so as to not draw attention from any of the others that were milling about and enjoying the weather.

T-Dog nodded at her and shrugged a little.

"Fine," he said. "I helped Glenn. We got what power we can get going to the offices going there, just hope it holds out if we need it."

Carol nodded and came up, placing her hand on his shoulder and squeezing. He leaned into the touch slightly.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Carol said. "You're both great at what you do."

She knew that the generators were probably one of the last things on his mind at the moment as well, but they'd been more or less trained these days to answer for their days in terms of their accomplishments.

"Guess we'll see," T-Dog said.

Carol nodded at him, offering his shoulder another squeeze and giving him a small smile. He probably didn't want to talk about it, and she wasn't going to pressure him to if he didn't want to. They'd all simply wait and find out what news Daryl and Rick might bring.

Carol's daydream, though, was interrupted by a screech from Carl.

"Walkers! Walkers!" Carl called out.

From where they stood, Carol and T-Dog both turned in the direction of the boy's cries to find Walkers flooding into the area, though Carol didn't stop to wonder where they'd come from.

Carol grabbed the pistol out of the holster that she wore around her waist from having been down patrolling the gates and immediately started trying to take down some of the flood of Walkers around her. There were so many of them and they seemed to just keep coming.

Everything around them was in chaos. There was running and screaming among the growling and snarling sounds of the Walkers. Carol couldn't find anyone suddenly and she felt alone in the sea of madness.

Then she heard T-Dog shout and dared to turn her head a moment to seek out his voice. He was yelling about the fence…something was off about the fence…Carol tried to make her way toward him, trying to see what he was doing, what was happening.

Glenn appeared and there was an exchange between the men, but they were separated from Carol by the streams of Walkers trickling in various directions and she couldn't see or hear them clearly. She watched as Glenn's head bobbed, swept up and fighting in the current of Walkers, and she pushed forward, trying to find T-Dog…trying to help him…trying to even figure out if there was a way out or if they were all destined to die there in the prison yard.

And as Carol finally killed the last Walker that was close to her…leaving her with moments to spare until the next wave came crashing down in the chaos, she saw what T-Dog was doing. With a piece of cord he was wiring the fence back together in a spot…though she didn't know why it wasn't together or what had happened. But he was working as quickly as he could, his movements jerky.

She could see the Walkers puddling around him and she tried to get over there as quickly as possible. She had abandoned her pistol, long since out of ammunition, and held her knife tight in her hand, stabbing what she could and dodging when it was possible.

And she saw the exact moment when he was bit. When the Walker that she didn't reach in time ripped at his shoulder and he cried out just as she did. Their cries were for different reasons, but they were equally sorrowful wails.

Carol reached T-Dog, almost coming apart. He wasn't down for the count, though, not yet, and she was clinging to the perhaps ridiculous notion that somehow she could save him. Somehow someone could save him. She couldn't bring herself to admit that he was gone. He was still with her.

T-Dog nearly drug Carol through the courtyard, into a darkened hallway, and Carol immediately knew that she had no idea where she was. She didn't know this part of the prison, at least not from the door they'd come through, and they couldn't see a thing. Still, they had to press on in hopes of stumbling upon their cellblock. She had to get him to safety…she had to get him somewhere where she could have some hope of figuring out how to work miracles and how to save him.

The dark was almost suffocating. It was pitch black to say the least and Carol couldn't see anything. She only knew that T-Dog was with her because he pulled her along, his arm around her waist, and his breathing labored. She felt blind, feeling her way down the walls…across things she couldn't see in the darkness, turning when the walls ran out.

They didn't dare to speak. Speaking would draw Walkers to them if there were any to be found, and the last thing they needed was to try to fight Walkers in the most complete blackness they could imagine.

Carol didn't know how far they'd gone or where they were. She had absolutely no idea. T-Dog was slowing down and his breathing was sounding more ragged than it had before and Carol was afraid for her friend. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to save him. She would lose him here…here in this blackness…and she would be alone…lost somewhere in the unexplored bowels of the prison.

She'd never make it back. She didn't know where she was going and she didn't know where they'd come from, but she fought to keep herself from feeling as desperate and miserable as her brain was telling her she should feel. She had to hang on. She had to keep the faith that she'd find a place and T-Dog would be saved…she'd get out…she'd be saved. They could do this together.

"I can't go on," T-Dog said. "You've got to leave me."

"No," Carol declared. "No! I won't leave you…we'll get out. We'll find Hershel. He can fix this…"

"It's too late for me," T-Dog said, panting. "I'm bit. I'm as good as dead. You've got to go on. You've got to find your way out of here."

"I won't leave you," Carol declared again.

When they heard the approaching growling…the shuffling feet on the concrete floor...it was made all the more horrifying by the darkness and the echo. Walkers were coming. They weren't alone.

"You keep going," T-Dog said. "You find a way out. Find an escape. You've got to keep going."

"We'll make it out," Carol said. "Just ahead…somewhere…there's got to be a way out…"

The sounds got closer and coupled with the sounds of the Walkers was the stronger stench of so much death and corruption in such a small space. The Walkers were on them…on top of them. There was no telling how many there were or exactly where they were.

Carol yelped when her hand touched what was unmistakably the fabric of a Walker's clothing in the dark and she raised the knife she was carrying, praying to make contact, relieved with the crunch and the sound of the falling threat.

But there was too much to handle in such a small space and T-Dog was unarmed. Carol didn't know how many there were, but there were too many for her to fight them off by finding them individually with her hands in the darkness and taking them down by guessing where their brains might be located.

Suddenly, inexplicably, lights started to flicker around them. Carol looked around quickly, shocked as her eyes tried to adjust to the light. T-Dog was just behind her, slumped against the wall and she sunk her knife into the head of a Walker, realizing she'd never fight off the five more that were coming and T-Dog seemed to lack the strength at this point to keep to his feet.

"We have to go," she called at him, her voice coming out much more broken than she'd expected.

T-Dog wrestled himself up, barely enough energy it seemed to do so.

"I'm going to hold them off. You've got to go…get out of here," T-Dog said.

Before Carol could protest, T-Dog took what was left of his strength and rushed the upcoming Walkers. Carol gasped in horror as he took them backwards, pinning them against the wall, essentially falling into their outstretched arms.

And they were on him, tearing him to pieces.

"Go!" T-Dog yelled. "Go! Get out of here! I'm dead! Go!"

Carol hesitated a moment. She hated to leave her friend, but she hated more the thought that she would let him die in vain…or at least that's how her brain reasoned it…if she didn't make an effort to find her way out.

She rushed forward, aided by the dizzying flicker of the oddly appearing lights that illuminated her way, and tried to block out the sounds of T-Dog's final screams…the sounds of the growling Walkers…the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears.

Even though she didn't know where she was…even though she was lost, and probably for good…she had to at least try to find her way out…to find her way back to the group.

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**AN: Do you hate me? Should I be hiding? Let me know what you think…but please don't kill me! LOL**


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: I apologize if updates aren't as frequent or as long as they have been in the past. My work schedule is really ridiculous and it's not going to change any time in the foreseeable future. That means that by the time I "get off work" it's really late here and my brain is scrambled. Still, I love writing my stories and I want to share them with you, so I'll update when I can. **

**I do ask, though, that you forgive me if things aren't quite up to par. I'm doing my best! **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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When Rick and Daryl pulled up to the gates and found no one there and no one out in the yard, it didn't take long for Daryl to realize that something was wrong. His first assumption, of course, was probably Rick's. It must be time for the baby.

Daryl glanced over in Rick's direction, but his friend didn't say anything. He beeped the horn lightly, drawing a few of the field Walkers in their direction. It would seem, at least, that someone could come down and let them in, but no one came.

It was then, though, that Daryl started to notice some stirring in the distance at the prison. He squinted and leaned forward and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Rick was doing the same. There was movement up toward the prison, but it wasn't the movement of people…it was the stiff muscled movement of Walkers.

"There's fuckin' Walkers in the yard!" Daryl spat quickly.

He was out of the truck and fighting the Walkers around him before he even had time to think about it. He made his way, counting on the fact that Rick was behind him but not daring to even glance back for a second, to the place where the fence had been cut the first day they'd arrived to allow them passage into the fences. It was bound now with a fluorescent orange cord that was the signature for most things that Glenn repaired.

Daryl fumbled with the hooks that were tied to the cord and worked to get it open enough for them to get through while Rick frantically kept any Walkers off of them both. Daryl let Rick pass through the gap first and then shimmied in after him, fixing the fence as quickly as he could and then jogging up toward the prison behind Rick. The fact that there were Walkers was alarming, but Daryl was hoping that everyone was tucked in safe inside at least and they were just waiting for them to take care of the straggling Walkers when they got back.

Admittedly he knew this probably wasn't the case, but it was the only thing keeping him from feeling like he couldn't breathe at all.

As they neared the prison and the Walkers ambling about caught wind of them, Daryl quickly took down most of them. Rick was already in a shocked state of panic or something, and Daryl wasn't sure that he wouldn't have gotten bitten just from not being prepared had he not been there to take the drooling freaks out.

As Daryl was putting down the last of the handful of Walkers milling about, Rick having took down a few himself despite his obviously altered state, Hershel and Beth appeared out of the watchtower.

"What's goin' on?" Daryl called at them, trying to keep his voice down and his nerves in check. Rick was almost running around in a circle like a confused wind up toy at the sight of Hershel, who should be with Lori if there was anything going on there, and Daryl figured that it was of the upmost importance that he keep control on himself.

"I don't know…" Hershel said. "Beth and I were trapped in the tower. I only had six rounds on me and nothing else. Everyone was out in the yard and before we knew it the yard was flooded with Walkers."

Daryl glanced at Rick and looked back at Hershel who had Beth cowering behind him.

"What the fuck were ya doin' without nothin' but six rounds? Damn it! Where the hell is ever'body?" Daryl spat.

Hershel shook his head.

"Lori! Where's Lori? Carl?" Rick asked suddenly, the first words that he'd uttered.

Hershel shook his head again.

"I don't know where anyone is," he said. "We couldn't see when the chaos broke out and we didn't have a way to get out the tower and help anyone without being bitten ourselves."

Before Daryl could respond in any way, Rick ran into the main part of the prison. Daryl stood there a minute, not really knowing what to do. He didn't know where the fuck the Walkers had come from, he didn't where anyone was, and he didn't know if anyone was alive. What the hell was he supposed to do with all that information?

Daryl could hear Rick screaming his wife and son's names from inside the prison and he wanted to point out that if he didn't quit yelling like that he was going to draw every damn Walker that could possibly get to him, but he didn't say anything. He just tried to figure out what to do. Following Rick obviously was going to be of little assistance since his screaming indicated that he was without any more information than Daryl had.

While they were standing there, Glenn began slowly approaching, limping a little and obviously doused in blood, whether it was his own or belonged to Walkers. All three of them started toward him at the same time.

"What the hell happened?" Daryl called as they neared Glenn.

Glenn's eyes looked watery, but Daryl wasn't going to point that out. It wasn't the time or the place and he had no idea what the Korean boy had seen.

"I don't know…I don't know what happened…" Glenn said, obviously overcome with exhaustion and shock. "There was a flood of Walkers. I noticed the fence…over there," he pointed, "looked damaged and I made my way over there as best I could. I had some cord, but it wasn't enough. I wired some of it…passed it to T…got swept up in the Walkers."

"It's OK," Hershel said. "Where is everyone? Do you know where Maggie is? Lori?"

Glenn shrugged a little and shook his head slightly.

"I…uh…I got inside the prison from that door back there," he pointed. "I know Lori and Carl were over there and so was Maggie…I don't know where they went. When I got in there I was in…uh…the halls that lead to the generator rooms. I ran into a man coming from another entrance."

"What d'ya mean man?" Daryl asked. "Where's Carol an' T?"

Glenn shrugged again.

"She was helping T…they were over there by the fence…I lost them with the Walkers. The man…I didn't know him. He started fighting with me like he was going to kill me," Glenn lowered his head and swallowed, looking at the ground a moment before continuing. "I killed him," he said. "Then I went and flipped the generators…figured I could give everyone some light if they were running like me."

Daryl had heard all he needed to know at the moment. He darted in the direction where Glenn had said Carol and T-Dog had been and found quickly enough the cord that was barely holding the fence together. Someone had removed a section of it that was far bigger than necessary for anyone to pass through. Whoever it had been who had cut it the way they had, hadn't intended on using the fences for protection…they'd just seen them as something to get through…and probably wanted room to carry things out. It had been, though, like pulling the drain in the bathtub and the Walkers had flooded through there.

The fence, though, was at least secure enough that for the moment no more Walkers were trickling through the hole.

Daryl looked around, trying to figure out where the two might have gone. There was blood on the ground and a crazy confusion of prints…and Daryl was trying to convince himself that most of both things belonged to Walkers.

The closest place, though, and the most logical was a door leading to a part of the prison that they'd never been in. Daryl was just about to rip it open when he heard Hershel's voice behind him.

"What are you doing?" Hershel asked.

Daryl jumped a little just from not expecting his concentration to be broken by the old man.

"Figure Carol an' T…they prob'ly went in here. Might need help or might be waitin' things out like you an' Beth," Daryl said.

"I'll go with you," Hershel offered. "Glenn spotted me his knife."

The old man showed Daryl that he was carrying one of the many hunting knives that had been passed around through the group. Daryl nodded slightly at him, figuring that the old man might be useful to have as backup in case he was to encounter a large number of Walkers. He was trying to think that might be the worst thing that he'd find on this adventure.

"Fix the fuckin' fence!" Daryl yelled toward Glenn who was talking to Beth, presumably about her sister's possible whereabouts.

As Daryl and Hershel stepped into the tight hallway and started down it, the space was eerily illuminated by flickering lights that made Daryl feel like he was in the scene of a horror movie. The slamming noise of one of the locked metal doors let Daryl know quickly that they were in the area of the prison where prisoners were likely held in solitary confinement…and from the sounds around them it was possible that many of them were still in solitary.

Daryl shuddered a little but tried to focus on their trip down the hall. Luckily there weren't many opportunities where a decision of "which way to go" was necessary, and Daryl figured that if Carol and T-Dog passed through here they would have stuck to the most obvious route given the fact that they weren't familiar with the area.

Daryl didn't speak to Hershel and Hershel didn't speak to Daryl. Daryl had spent enough time Walker hunting with Alice in the bowels of the prison to know what could happen if you started speaking, and the quarters were tight for fighting Walkers if you didn't have to do it.

They eased along for what felt like an eternity and Daryl did everything he could to keep his mind from drifting to any of the horrible possibilities of what might lie just around the next bend…or the next. He tried to keep his mind as blank as he could will it to be.

He wasn't sure how far they should go, or even where they would come out should they continue their journey until the end of the road. They walked along slowly, the only sounds being their breathing and the occasional thud of Walker trapped somewhere in its own personal hell.

Finally, though, they saw something that told them that they weren't going in the wrong direction and it was enough to turn Daryl's stomach almost to the point of vomiting.

There were two Walkers which quickly turned their attention toward Daryl and Hershel. Daryl had them down, though, before they were ever much of a threat and their bodies fell with a thud around what had been their last meal.

What was left...what they saw in front of them on the ground…were clearly the remains of T-Dog. Hershel moaned when they both simultaneously realized what they were looking at and Daryl stepped forward, driving one of his arrows into what was left of the man's skull. He didn't figure he was likely to walk since he wasn't walking already, but he wasn't taking any chances. Friends didn't let friends turn into Walkers, not if it could be avoided. It was part of their pact.

Daryl glanced around the space, not trusting himself enough to speak. When his eyes fell across the crumpled scrap of cloth on the floor, ripped and stained with blood, Daryl picked it up and held it at arm's length a minute, only barely letting his brain register what it meant or what it might mean.

"What is it, Daryl?" Hershel asked, keeping his voice just above a whisper so that it wouldn't echo and draw anything down upon them.

"Carol's sweater," Daryl said.

Hershel frowned and shook his head slightly, his eyes glancing back over T-Dog. Daryl tucked the ripped garment, somewhat in a wad, into his back pocket and hoped the old man didn't question the action because he couldn't have explained it himself at the moment.

"Poor girl," Hershel said. He glanced back at Daryl, his eyes pained. "You think she's walking?"

Daryl felt his heart almost stop. Although his brain was quietly suggesting to him the horrible truth of what had probably happened…the fact that T-Dog and Carol had sought safety here but apparently found their own deaths instead, he realized that he wasn't ready to hear it.

Daryl tried to calm his breathing, not wanting to give himself away until he'd had some time to process what the hell was happening. It was just too damn much for the moment.

The only response that he could make was to nod just a little, his heart pounding. Hershel nodded in response.

"I suppose we should go back," Hershel said. "Tell the others…see if they've found Maggie, Lori, and Carl…start digging some graves."

The sensation of his heart stopping again made Daryl's breath catch and he didn't trust himself to speak at all. He figured he'd go back with the old man…find out what happened to the others. They could bury T-Dog and while the others were moving his friend's body out he could…he could continue on a little deeper to find out where Carol might be…where she might have wondered to.

Daryl took a deeper breath than he normally would. He wasn't even sure at the moment how he felt or what he was thinking. He knew that he didn't want to find her as a Walker…he didn't want to see that…but he didn't want anyone else finding her either. She was his best friend…she was the person who had meant the most to him in the world. He owed it to her to put her down.

Daryl turned and without a word he backtracked the way that they'd come, leading the old man back outside.

Once they stepped outside, blinded by the sun, Daryl's eyes immediately fell on Glenn who was patching the fence area as well as he could. He turned a little, looking over his shoulder, his face solemn.

"Maggie? Lori? Carl?" Hershel asked in rapid fire just as the heavy metal door fell closed on the tomb of their fallen friends.

Glenn rubbed his chin on his shoulder.

"Maggie's fine…Carl…is fine…" he said softly.

The boy's words were interrupted by the sounds of Rick somewhere close by…sounding angry at the world. His words were unintelligible, but the tone behind them told Daryl all they really needed to know. The howling of a baby echoing through the yard was the second indication and Hershel took off before Daryl could even think to respond. Daryl stayed, for the moment, feet away from Glenn.

"Carol? T?" Glenn asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"Didn't make it. Need ya ta help dig some graves," Daryl said. It was the first time he'd said it out loud. It was the first time he'd formed the words, and yet he still didn't know if he could really believe them. He was surprised, even, at the sound of his own voice.

Glenn turned around, his work with the fence done, and nodded slightly.

"Yeah…looks like I better dig three," Glenn said. "Did you find Alice?"

Daryl shook his head.

"Dead," he said.

"Four?" Glenn asked.

Daryl shook his head again.

"Dead an' gone…eat…disappeared…just gone," Daryl said.

He didn't stand to talk any longer with the boy. Instead he turned and headed back toward the main part of the prison, the noisy part, the part where Rick's life was falling apart and everyone was attending to the needs of a man who had lost his wife.

Daryl figured he'd better get in there and start tending to Rick's needs too…see what he could do and see what could be done to get things back on track. They didn't need the group falling apart any worse than it already had.

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By the time Daryl got inside the prison and found Maggie cleaning up the baby, which he only briefly glanced at before trying to determine if Rick was going to make it through this with even an ounce of sanity left, it was pretty evident that his friend had checked out for the time being.

Rick had gone, quiet now, moving at a frantic pace through the hallways. Daryl saw him before he stalked off, with the same general nature of an animal that had been caged for some good amount of time, to find Lori's body.

"The baby's going to need formula," Hershel said, nearing Daryl. "She's not going to make it if she doesn't eat."

At the thought of another death…another senseless death after a day so filled with loss, Daryl couldn't even stand it. He felt almost as overcome as Rick did, though he assumed it was probably different and surely for different reasons.

"We're not losing her too," Daryl said, setting his jaw. "I'm going for formula."

Maggie, who overheard the entire thing, passed the baby to Beth and stepped forward, still covered in blood. Daryl didn't know what had happened, but it wouldn't have taken a genius to figure it out. He let his eyes slide to the side, not wanting to look at her. He wasn't ready yet to face any of this…none of it. He only wanted to be focused on getting what they needed to make sure that an innocent infant didn't die to add to the number of people that they'd already lost.

"I'll go with you," Maggie offered.

"I'll go," Glenn volunteered.

Daryl turned toward Glenn, not even having realized that he'd come in.

"I know where there's a daycare…we saw it on a run," Maggie offered. "We can go there and get back quickly."

Daryl nodded his head a little.

"We'll take the bike," Daryl said.

"Maggie…after all this?" Glenn said, pleading with her. "I'll go."

Daryl interjected, shaking his head.

"Ya need ta stay here," Daryl said. "Rick…he ain't doin' so hot an' someone's gonna have ta help him out. Graves is gotta get dug an' someone needs ta keep an eye out in case that asshole that cut the fence and caused…" Daryl's voice broke off for a moment. "An' caused all this shit…weren't workin' alone. Ya see anyone else, ya kill 'em, ya hear me? We ain't losin' no more a' our own. We'll go get the formula."

Daryl glanced around and Glenn nodded his head, solemnly accepting his responsibilities. No one else seemed to protest Daryl's plan and he turned quickly, only letting his mind focus on the task at hand. He heard Maggie following behind him as he took one of the extra sets of keys to the gates and led her out to get the bike.

The two would go and they would get formula. They'd get what the baby girl needed to live. It was the least that Daryl could do…and at this moment he was feeling like the least was all that could be expected of him. But they would go together...and they would get the formula. The baby wasn't going to die…not like everyone else.

Then they'd come back and tonight, or probably tomorrow, they'd deal with their dead…and then Daryl would deal with the mess that his mind was at the moment.

But for now, all that mattered was getting the formula and getting back. All that mattered was at least saving one life when he'd failed to save anyone else's. He hadn't saved Alice…he hadn't saved T-Dog…and though it was no great loss to him, he hadn't saved Lori…and most of all…_he hadn't saved Carol._

No, Daryl wasn't going to let the baby down. He'd heard Carol say time and time again that the baby was about hope. The baby was the future. She'd been so damn excited about the very thought of the baby he'd have almost thought it was hers and not Lori's…and Daryl wasn't going to let that baby die.

With Maggie in tow on the back of the bike, the two of them set off to get formula and whatever else they could bring back for the infant.

The rest…the hardest part of it all…that could be dealt with when they returned.


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: Happy Friday everyone! Tomorrow's another big day for me, but I'll try to get something out soon. I'm sure you know that Sunday night I'll be MIA with the new show coming on! **

**At this point in our story we have a LOT going on and a lot that's got to be covered. This chapter and a few of the upcoming ones will be short spans of time since there's so much to cover. There will also be some other POVs so that you get all of the story that you need. I hope it's not too annoying. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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When they'd gotten back with the formula, Daryl discovered that Rick was pretty much gone and he'd declared that they needed to leave the man alone…at least for the night…to deal with whatever demons he was battling.

Apparently Lori's body was gone…eaten by Walkers. Glenn had gone ahead and dug three graves while they'd been gone, and all three lay like mouths gaping open in the ground. There wouldn't be a body for one of them, though. Lori was gone.

Daryl's stomach churned at the thought that he still had to go and find Carol. He wasn't looking forward to it at all. He tried to hold it together, though, deciding that the longer he could put it out of his mind, the better off he'd be. It was almost like by holding back the inevitable he could keep it from eventually happening.

It was late, though, Daryl reasoned with the group. Too late to wrangle Rick and his feelings. Too late to go in search of his best friend who was now, probably, a Walker rambling about in the bowels of the prison. Too late to bury their dead or burn the bodies of the countless Walkers and the one sorry asshole that had caused all of this. Too late to go in search of other assholes that might be lurking in the corners. It was too late for any of that.

It was all better left to until the morning…until after sunrise…until there was a new day. They'd at least put it off until a new day...and then they could deal with the dead.

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The next morning, after an unsatisfying breakfast of Beth's ridiculously bad oatmeal, Daryl left orders with the others to leave Rick be. The man had stalked through a few times, like some kind of crazed animal, but he hadn't really spoken to anyone. Daryl figured it was best to let him work through things his own way and feared that they'd have to fight him if they tried to corner him.

Daryl asked Glenn to turn the generators back on so that he could at least have his way lit by the flickering bulbs of the part of the prison where T-Dog lie waiting on them and where Daryl was going to have to go in search of Carol.

After he'd stalled as long as he could, weary from a night of not sleeping, he led Hershel, Maggie, and Beth back to the place where what was left of T-Dog waited. The three of them, armed with prison sheets, were to be responsible for getting him out to one of the gaping graves.

"Do you want someone to come with you?" Glenn asked as Daryl started forward, deeper into the eerily lit space. "You could run into who knows how many Walkers…and we don't know if the man was alone."

Daryl shook his head. He didn't want anyone coming with him. Even if Carol was a Walker, he wanted her handled…well, could delicately even be a term used to describe what he feared he was going to do? He didn't want the others doing it. He couldn't explain to himself, and he couldn't explain to them…but he didn't want anyone else gawking at her…he didn't even want them touching her.

"I got it, take care a' T," Daryl said. He took one of the sheets and threw it, messily folded, over his shoulder to wrap her in when he found her.

"Should we go ahead and bury him?" Hershel asked.

Daryl nodded.

"Ain't no tellin'…" he started, his voice almost trailing off involuntarily. "Might not find her right away. Go ahead an' put him ta peace…hell…might be the only burial we get…Lori was gone."

Hershel nodded gently.

"I suppose we can bury him…wait for you. We could have a memorial service for all of them at once," Hershel said.

Daryl nodded slightly.

"Might be for the best," he said, suddenly aware that there was a lump like a grapefruit rising in his throat.

Daryl ducked his head and continued on, leaving his friends to their work.

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Hershel sat around one of the prison tables and wiped at his brow with a piece of cloth that had likely once been a pillowcase but no longer bore any resemblance to what it had once been. T-Dog was laid to rest in the cold ground and everyone was milling around the prison, attempting to keep busy, no one really wanting to talk about anything that needed to be talked about.

Hershel was concerned. Rick had clearly gone off the deep end. He stalked around the back parts of the prison…the parts they'd only begun to even clear out…and he stalked around the yard, but he didn't speak to anyone unless it was to answer some question with a short reply and undue hostility toward the asker.

Daryl was off in search of Carol. Hershel knew the man had been gone for a very long time, though these days it was difficult to keep track of time exactly. He wasn't going to bother him, though. There was no telling the number of Walkers he'd have to pick through in a part of the prison that they were unfamiliar with. The search, especially led by one man and one man alone, could very well take days.

And Daryl wasn't accepting help with this one.

Hershel had heard the others question it. He'd heard Beth, Maggie, and Glenn raise the question as to why Daryl wouldn't let them help…why he wouldn't let them quicken the search. They attributed it to pride, but Hershel knew it was something else.

Hershel had seen it for a long time. He'd thought that everyone else had seen it too, but either they hadn't seen it or they were choosing to ignore it. Either way, he wasn't going to be the one to draw attention to it. He had never even been sure if Carol and Daryl were even aware of it.

The two of them had clearly loved each other, though, and Daryl was a man who was dealing with the surprise loss of the woman he loved. Just as much as Rick was dealing with it.

Hershel imagined, though he couldn't be positive, that the real reason for the different manifestations of the emotions in the two men had to do with the fact that Daryl wasn't as weighed down with guilt, perhaps, as Rick was. Things hadn't been good with Rick and Lori, and Rick was likely feeling the strain of that…the strain of wrongs that couldn't be righted. It was something that most people felt, at one time or another, after the death of a loved one, but the world around them had a way of making everything worse than it once had been.

Daryl and Carol, from what Hershel could tell, had probably not even fully been aware of their love, and so whatever Daryl was dealing with would naturally be different than what Rick was going through.

And then, of course, there was Carl and the baby to worry about. Little Asskicker, that's what Daryl had named her…it wasn't a real name, but with Rick like he was, it was the best that they had.

Carl would come through this, that much was evident, but Hershel couldn't help but wonder what kind of damage it could do to a boy his age. He'd put his own mother down. It was a cruel part of life now…and it was hard to come to terms with the fact that it was likely going to be something of a common occurrence if children continued to be born into this world as it was now.

The baby knew nothing, of course, of her situation. She probably thought that Beth was her mother. Hershel hated the thought of his youngest having to take charge of a baby, but at least Beth was young enough that the child was fascinating to her and the whole situation probably not much different than being given a very elaborate doll to play with. He hated that she had to have the charge, but at least she didn't seem to mind it too much at the moment.

When Rick and Daryl both skipped dinner for the night, Hershel started to grow concerned. He'd gone after Rick, but the man had avoided him, only halfway listening to him or speaking to him.

Daryl had insisted, somewhat absently, on sleeping in the guard tower when he'd finally made an appearance. Hershel hadn't protested, of course, him sleeping wherever he wanted, but he was concerned that Daryl looked as exhausted as he did and he worried that the man wouldn't rest again that night.

Still, when asked what happened, Daryl only responded that he'd resume his search in the morning and Hershel had left it at that. There wasn't any telling how long it would take the man, but Hershel thought that maybe finding Carol himself would give Daryl whatever closure that he might need.

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The next day, led by the nauseating lights which were made worse by the fact that Daryl didn't figure he could keep down too much of Beth's food and had opted to make his meal for the morning on old beef jerky and orange Gatorade, Daryl made his way back to the place where he'd left off the day before.

Daryl felt like he was venturing deeper and deeper into unknown parts of the prison, but he had no idea of knowing where he needed to go. He was blind here, essentially. There was no way of knowing how far Carol had gone…how far she'd have been able to go. There was no way of knowing when she might have finally fallen…and if she got back up…where she might have wandered to.

So Daryl kept trying to push it all out of his mind. He kept trying to keep going, keep pushing on.

Every time he heard the familiar growl and groan of a Walker, he held his breath until it came into the light. Then, seeing that it was a Walker he had no interest in, he'd stab it and yank loose his arrow. Sometimes his frustration overcame him. Sometimes other feelings that he didn't have names for overcame him. Whenever they did, he lunged at the Walkers with far more force than was necessary. There was something satisfying, though entirely soothing, about brutally stabbing every single one of the motherfuckers…never being sure which one was the asshole that did it. Which one was the worthless, dirty fucker that had taken Carol's life.

He'd never know which one it was…so he took some of his frustration out on all of them.

Every thud of Walkers throwing themselves against their doors…against the often times locked doors of solitary confinement…made Daryl's heart thud in his chest like he'd never experienced before. He tested the doors and if he found them locked tight he left the nasty fuckers to their doom. If the door gave way, though, he opened it carefully to let the fucker out and then he took out his anger on that one too…even though he wasn't likely the culprit…just because he could have been.

Daryl was beginning to wonder what he feared more. The way he saw it, he had three possibilities lying ahead of him. One was that he would find Carol in the same condition as T-Dog…one was that he would find her walking and have to put her down…and one was that she would be like Lori and like Alice…she'd simply never be found…she'd just be gone.

And Daryl didn't know at this point what he feared most.

He'd lost his mother, he was sure his asshole father was dead, and his brother was more than likely dead too. He'd lost every damn relative that he'd really known much about except for a few crazy ass uncles who probably died the moment the world went to hell. As far as he knew, there was no one left alive that he had so much as given two fucks about before all this had happened.

And then he'd found the group…and he'd found Carol. And he was almost afraid at how he felt at just the thought of losing her. He'd let her down. He'd done nothing but let her down. Now he was terrified to think she was gone…physically or otherwise. The feeling almost paralyzed him when he let it come clearly to the front of his mind so he fought that much harder to push it back.

He couldn't explain it, but when he thought that one time…one of these times…he would turn a corner and he'd have to face it, head on, that she was really gone, he felt like he couldn't breathe. He felt like he tried and he tried, but the oxygen his lungs demanded just wouldn't come into them and he feared for a few seconds for his own life from suffocation before he was finally able to get control of himself.

It was a feeling unlike anything he'd ever felt before and he didn't care for it at all. He didn't know how to stop it, though, and he could only be terrified at the thought of how the feeling might intensify when he did come face to face with her. He was afraid that he'd never put her down…he was afraid that he'd just die right there as well…unable to get life giving air into his lungs.

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Just as breakfast was over, Hershel sat cuddling the baby girl while she slept, her stomach full of formula.

Once again, Rick was off chasing shadows…and in his own way, Daryl was doing the same.

Hershel had entrusted Beth with the charge of keeping an eye on Carl, though the boy seemed oddly more balanced than any of them after the tragedy…and that was, perhaps, what worried Hershel the most.

Glenn and Maggie fooled around not far away, within yelling distance, with stock. They were claiming to be taking inventory, but Hershel knew that at this point they were just trying to keep hands busy that didn't know what else to do.

The somewhat silent atmosphere of the prison dining room, where Hershel sat, was broken, though, when he heard Carl and Beth both shouting for him and Glenn. Hershel got to his feet, still holding the sleeping infant who wasn't awakened by neither the screams nor his startled rising…after all she'd been born in the midst of terror, it wasn't anything new to her…and quickly found Glenn. He passed the baby to Maggie and went with the boy in search of where Beth and Carl's voices were echoing forth.

They found them quickly enough. They were standing by one of the holding cells that had been cleared. It was locked and inside stood four people, two women and two men, while another woman lie bleeding on the ground.

Hershel stood there, trying to piece together what in the world was going on, but finding himself utterly unable to do so.

"We heard them," Carl started to explain quickly. "We heard them in the tombs…heard her screaming. I thought it might be Carol so we went after them."

"How did you get them in the cell?" Glenn asked suddenly.

"We speak English," the young black woman offered. "We need help. If we've got to be in here to get it then here we are."

Hershel furrowed his brow.

"What's the problem with the woman?" Hershel asked, gesturing toward the member of their group they'd rested on the ground.

"Bit," the young woman offered. "She's dying if she isn't dead already."

"You brought a Walker in here?" Glenn asked sharply.

"She's my wife!" One of the men protested.

"No offense," Hershel said, "but we'd all be much obliged if you'd put her down before she could turn. If she bites you then we've got a cage full of Walkers in the middle of our home."

"We'll take care of her," the black man offered, holding up a hammer. Hershel cringed a little at the thought and the sight of the weapon.

"Please…is it safe here?" The blonde woman with them asked.

Glenn looked at Hershel and Hershel looked back at the boy. They weren't typically the decision makers of the group and with all that had gone on, Hershel wasn't sure he wanted to say anything to these new people that had appeared.

"It's safe most of the time," Beth offered before anyone could stop her. "Yesterday, though, we had someone cut the fences."

"Was it you?" Carl asked quickly.

The black man shook his head.

"We came in the back…through a big hole in the fence. Looks like there was an explosion or something. It's dangerous out there. A couple of days ago we came across a couple of men too, crazy assholes. It's bad enough to fight the dead, but when you've got to fight the living too then you don't stand much of a chance at all," he said.

"How did you get into the tombs?" Hershel asked.

The black woman shrugged and exchanged glances with the man that Hershel thought might be her husband or something of the like.

"The tombs?" She asked.

"It's what we call the part of the prison where you were found," Glenn said, glancing at Carl who nodded.

"Walked through a door," the woman said, almost laughing. "How else were we going to get in?"

Hershel almost laughed himself, despite the fact that there was no levity to the subject.

When the woman on the ground began to twitch, the black man turned quickly and Hershel yelped at Beth and Carl to get out of the room, trying himself not to look as he watched the two obey him…surprisingly…and heard the unmistakable crunch of a skull after a few pounding blows. He felt his stomach turn and heard Glenn groan, but managed to keep control of himself.

"Glenn, can you get them a sheet?" Hershel asked without looking at Glenn. Glenn quickly left in pursuit of the requested item.

"We'll bring you a sheet," Hershel said. "To wrap her in. We've got…well…we've got graves dug. One we know is going to be empty so we can move the marker I made for that one. We'll bury her for you, respectfully."

He heard a sarcastic snicker from inside the cell and the man who had identified himself as the woman's husband…who was now kneeling on the floor and sobbing somewhat silently…spoke.

"You mean I don't even get to bury my own wife? You'll do it _for me?_" He asked.

"We don't know you…we don't know who you are. Yesterday we were attacked. Someone, who we killed, came into the prison and caused us to lose three of our people. We don't even know if he was working alone, though I suspect not. We're not alone here and I don't think I can, in good faith, let you out of this cell until Rick or Daryl comes back to discuss it," Hershel explained.

He knew it was a terrible situation, but so was nearly every situation these days. It was all they had at the moment, though. He couldn't let strangers out to roam around inside the prison when they were weakened as they were and Daryl was off in the prison somewhere and Rick was running around chasing phantoms.

"We're good people," the black man offered. "My name is Tyreese…this is my sister Sasha. That's Ben…who just lost his wife. This is Mel. We're just looking for somewhere safe. If it's safe here we'll pull our own weight. We're not looking for handouts…just somewhere safe."

Hershel frowned to himself.

"I can't offer you that," he said. "I can offer you some food…water…a place to lay your lost to rest. I can't offer you more than that, though. Rick's our leader. He'll have to decide what to do with you…and if he can't or won't, then Daryl will make the call. I can't tell you that you can stay."

Glenn came back with the sheet then and offered it to the people through the bars.

"Would you like us to lay her to rest?" Hershel asked, forcing himself to be more callous to the strangers than felt natural to him.

Finally, after discussion amongst themselves, Ben decided that it would be best to let them lay her to rest. Glenn stood, somewhat nervously, holding a gun pointed at the strangers while they opened the cell enough for Tyreese and Ben to bring the body out. Ben knelt, for a moment longer, touching the hand of the deceased woman and then let Tyreese lead him back into the cell. Once the door was securely locked again, Hershel and Glenn took the body out to be buried, leaving their newcomers to wait in the cell until Rick or Daryl could be sought out to decide their fate.


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: Hi everyone! I hope your weekend is going great! Tomorrow we get the premiere of the show! Super excited!**

**Here's a little chapter for you. This one is totally Daryl's POV, though at different times. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl was getting tired. He didn't know how much of the exhaustion was related to the fact that he hadn't slept well the past two nights, to the fact that he hadn't eaten well, to the fact that he'd put far more energy into killing the Walkers that he'd found than was necessary, or how much of it was simply related to the fact that he was in the semi darkness of the depressing corridors and beginning to lose hope that he was ever going to find Carol.

He gave up for the day, finally defeated and sure that it had to be getting late. He was too exhausted to go any farther and he was somewhat concerned that if he continued on at this point he was likely to be left without the strength to even fight off a single Walker.

As he made his way back toward the only exit that he knew about, which meant he had quite a decent journey ahead of him through the halls that he'd wandered during the day, he heard yet another growl echoing off the concrete walls.

With a heavy sigh that was much louder than he intended it to be, Daryl turned and waited for the appearance of the animated corpse that was likely in pursuit of him. As the Walker stalked around the corner nearest him, he quickly stabbed it with his arrow and almost let it pull him to the ground. He put his foot on the Walker's chest and pulled upward, realizing that if he hadn't stabbed this one through the eye, he might not have been able to kill it so easily.

This Walker wasn't in the state of decay that he'd become accustomed to in the area. The Walker was…for lack of better terms…_fresh_. The man…or what used to be a man…that lie on the floor in front of him was probably only dead a day at best and hadn't died from Walker attack either. After finally freeing the arrow and replacing it in his quiver, Daryl reached down and rolled the corpse to the side, first in one direction and then in the other.

His eyes focused on the handle of the knife that was wedged between the shoulder and neck of the corpse, nestled into the collarbone. The knife had been probably what ended the sorry son of a bitch's life, and Daryl quickly realized he was a man that had probably been working in conjunction with the man that Glenn had killed and had burned with the Walkers that had flooded the yard, but that wasn't what was significant to him at the moment.

Daryl grabbed the handle of the knife and ripped it free of its bone and flesh prison. He held it in his hand, his eyes focusing on it in the dizzying light provided by the half ass generators. He knew this knife. He'd seen this knife many times before. It was Carol's knife…and more specifically it was the knife that he'd given her some time ago, after they'd left the farm.

It was an old hunting knife and it was one that he'd had forever. Its age didn't make it any less useful a weapon and the handle was smaller than that of some of the other knives they'd picked up. It was the right size for comfortably fitting Carol's hand…and so he'd given it to her after he'd found her at the farm because he didn't want her to be stuck, ever again, trying to defend herself against Walkers with pointed sticks, rocks, and prayer.

Carol's knife had been lodged in this man's neck. It had undoubtedly been the wound that killed the man since he'd never removed the knife…and neither had she.

Daryl held the knife a moment, his stomach oddly churning. He looked back at the man. He'd probably come up on Carol back here…in these hallways. This man that lie dead on the floor might have tried to kill her…probably tried to kill her…and she'd killed him. Whether or not he'd wounded her fatally might never be known since Daryl still hadn't found her. But this man was probably the last person that Carol had seen alive.

The presence of her knife, though, in this location, let Daryl know that he was at least on the right track. He wasn't off by much. She might have roamed if she was walking, but she had at least come this far or damn near close to it.

Daryl turned the knife over in his hands again. He'd given it to her to protect herself, and she'd used it a good deal since the day that he'd handed it over to her…and she'd protected herself here…though it may have been her last act. In fact, Daryl was pretty sure it had to be her last act. The fact that the Walker kept the knife meant that she hadn't pulled it free, for whatever reason, and it meant she'd been left without a weapon.

Daryl considered, for a moment, pressing on to try and find her, but he decided not to. He told himself that he was too tired. He told himself that even if he found her he might not have the strength to put her down if she required it. He told himself that he wouldn't have the strength to bind her in the sheet twisted and tangled around the crossbow that was slung across his back. He told himself a lot of things, but the twisting in his gut let him know that he just wasn't ready for it. He'd be ready for it in the morning and this asshole would still be here like an X on pirate's map…marking the spot that was probably so close to what he was looking for.

With another deep sigh, Daryl drug the blade of the knife over the clothing the Walker was wearing and tucked it into his belt. He had far better knives…a lot of them did, actually…but he would keep the knife.

He started through the hallways, resigned to have something to eat and collapse on a pallet he'd made in the watch tower until morning. Maybe tonight he'd rest a little. Maybe tonight his dreams wouldn't be as haunted as they had been the nights before.

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When Daryl came out of the building he stepped into darkness that his eyes had to adjust to. Even the flickering light of the Walker filled hallways had provided more light than what the moon was putting out. He'd known it would be late, but he hadn't imagined it would be that late.

Daryl started toward the main part of the prison. He had no doubt whatsoever that he had missed dinner. That was pretty much a given for the time of night that it was, but it wasn't too great a loss. He'd find something to eat in the supplies they had and it would do enough to stop the gnawing in his stomach that was hiding behind the unsettled feeling he'd been carrying around during this whole process.

His attention was drawn, though, toward the lower parts of the fields. There were dancing flashlight beams and he wondered who in the hell was roaming around the yard with a flashlight.

Daryl redirected his steps and started toward one set of the beams. The set closest to him was hovering around where they'd dug the graves and around where they'd laid T-Dog to rest, leaving the other graves open in case there were more occupants.

As Daryl approached he realized that it was Glenn who was out there, covering over a grave, and Maggie was unsteadily holding the flashlight.

"Who the fuck ya buryin'?" Daryl asked, his heart leaping up a little into his throat.

"Don't know," Glenn responded. "Woman…she died in the prison and Hershel offered for us to bury her since we had two graves already ready."

Daryl stood there a minute trying to take in what he'd just heard.

"What the fuck ya talkin' 'bout? What woman?" Daryl asked.

He decided he was far too tired to try to comprehend anything that happened around there.

"A small group showed up," Glenn said. "If you run fast enough you can probably catch them. That's Hershel and Carl headed back from letting them out the gates."

Daryl's mind really felt like it was swimming too much to take in all this information that didn't make a damn bit of since. He was beginning to wonder how long he'd actually been in the unexplored depths of the prison. He'd gone in just as the sun was coming up, but now he was wondering if he'd been in some kind of time warp and lost days or something.

"What do ya mean a group showed up? An' they leavin' now?" Daryl asked.

"Rick came in…" Maggie started, taking over speaking for Glenn who was huffing over the energy he was exerting through filling in the grave of some unknown woman whose group was setting out at the most dangerous time of night. "He didn't want them here, I guess. He started yelling…screaming for them to get out. We thought he might do something like kill them…they said they'd take their chances back on the road and Daddy took them down to let them go."

Daryl shook his head. He started to chew his thumb but as he moved his hand closer to his face the smell of caked on Walker hit his nostrils. It was a great deterrent for his normal comforting habit.

"What the fuck is even happenin' anymore?" He muttered more to himself than anyone else. Clearly Glenn and Maggie understood that he was talking to himself because neither made any kind of move to respond to him.

"So anyway," Maggie said after a minute as Glenn was packing down the dirt on the grave, "one of the men that was with the group lost his wife. She died while we were waiting for you or Rick to show up…to decide what to do with them. Daddy figured we could move Lori's marker since…"

She let her voice trail off and Daryl grunted his understanding. Her voice had a little vibrato to it and Daryl knew that Maggie was struggling with her own feelings since she'd been the one to cut the baby out of Lori. She'd, essentially, been the one to kill the woman even though Carl had to put her down.

Daryl shook his head again at the thought and sighed once more, remembering that he was nearly starving to the point of eating his own boot.

Glenn started forward then and Maggie shined the beam in front of them, toward the prison. Hershel and Carl, who had apparently belonged to the other beam that Daryl had seen dancing, had disappeared now and he assumed that, their job done, they were back inside the prison.

Daryl started forward, following the dancing light beam, Maggie and Glenn right behind him.

"Did you find anything?" Glenn asked after a moment.

"Goin' back in the mornin'," Daryl responded. That was all he was willing to give them. He hadn't found much…he'd found the knife, but he didn't feel like talking about it. He needed to rest. He needed food and some rest and then he'd be ready, somehow, to find Carol in the morning and face what had to be done.

Glenn and Maggie didn't respond. They simply followed quietly along behind Daryl on his way back to the prison.

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By the time that Daryl finally made it up to the guard tower, a bottle of Gatorade, a can opener, spoon, and a can of mystery vegetable in his hands and pockets, he was almost too tired to turn the crank to free his food from its metallic prison.

He'd opted out of what was left if he wanted to scrape the pot from dinner. Beth's cooking was bad enough without having to add to it the insult of having sat for many hours and compound that with the fact that he'd have to take all the shit that had essentially burnt onto the bottom of the pot.

He was better off with whatever the hell was in the mystery can.

As Daryl peeled back the top of the can carefully and leaned against the back wall of the guard tower, he almost felt overwhelmed at the thought of his meagre meal of pinto beans. It wasn't the beans, really…it was that the stupid ass can reminded him of all the damn times on the road they'd eaten from unlabeled cans and tried to pretend the mystery meals were anything exciting.

Carol had always given him the choice of the two cans they drew out of the pile. He knew she didn't care much for certain things, like beets, and any time that they drew something she looked particularly disappointed about he'd always pretended he liked the shit and picked that. He'd never let her know it, though. It had always been important to her for some damn reason to give him his pick.

Pinto beans had been his favorite of all the shit they ever drew and she never even asked when they drew that. No matter what she got…and he knew it…she was always going to hand over the pinto beans and not accept any argument from him, even if he'd have taken what she had to save her from eating something she clearly disliked.

Now, alone in the guard tower, remembering those days…they didn't seem as bad as they had when they were on the road. If Daryl closed his eyes, he could still imagine that they were stopped somewhere, holed up for the night in some beside the road, piece of shit location, eating out of cans because they didn't dare to make a fire. The pallet he was sleeping on…the one under his ass while he ate, wasn't any damn different than the pallets they'd slept on all those months. The floor underneath it was just as damn hard as the floor in any of the filthy places they'd camped. But it wasn't the same.

It wouldn't ever be the same.

Daryl ate only what he felt like he had to eat of the beans to keep his stomach from gnawing a hole in itself and from keeping him to get even what little rest he might actually get out of the night. He sat the can to the side to finish for breakfast and sucked down half the Gatorade, leaving it for breakfast too.

He'd go first thing in the morning…right back to where he'd left the corpse of the fucker who was most likely the one that had killed Carol. For good damn measure…and just to make himself feel a little fucking better…he'd stab the fucker a few more times in the face…and then he'd continue on. He resigned himself to the uncomfortable fact that he wasn't leaving those hallways tomorrow until he found Carol. Even if it took all damn day, he was going to find her. She didn't deserve…even if she wasn't aware of her situation…to spend even one more fucking night trapped in whatever hell it was you were trapped in when you died these days and came back as one of the Walkers.

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Daryl's resolve from the night before was short lived. He'd scarfed down what was left of his pathetic dinner to make for an even more pathetic breakfast, took a piss behind the guard tower, and smoked a cigarette in far more time than was actually necessary…choosing to smoke a second more for the delay than for the necessity of the nicotine.

He'd gone back, then, without even telling anyone where he was or what the hell he was doing. He figured they were smart enough to figure that shit out and they probably had their hands full with Rick and whatever the hell he was going through.

Daryl was worried about Rick…and somewhere in the back of his brain the worry chewed at him a little. He knew eventually he'd have to talk to the man and he'd have to try to figure out how to bring him back to the group…how to bring him back to reality. Today wasn't that day, though, and Daryl didn't have it in him to go and talk Rick down off any cliffs. He had enough on his mind.

Daryl made his way slowly through the hallways, the generators having been left running the night before either by choice or, more than likely, because Glenn even forgot they were on.

Daryl was beginning to feel oddly familiar and at home in these halls and he hated that. He was pretty damn certain that, this job done, he would never again come into this part of this prison. It was a tomb, and that's all the hell it was. There was nothing here that anyone needed and no good could come of being here. He was fine if he never walked these halls again after today…after he'd done what he'd come to do.

When Daryl finally reached the son of a bitch that he'd put down yesterday, he pulled Carol's knife from his belt and held it in his hands a few moments. He turned it over in his hands…studying it…thinking about the fact that it was one of the last things that she'd touched. Her hand had been where his was just now.

Daryl's chest felt like it might explode and he fought back the desire to cry. He wasn't supposed to cry. That wasn't what the fuck Dixon men did. Merle would have kicked his ass if he'd known that he was standing in a dirty ass prison hallway over some dead fucker he didn't know and all he wanted to do was cry.

Daryl fought back the wave of tears and instead let the feeling turn to anger. He let all the emotions trapped inside of him…all of them fighting to get out that hadn't escaped before…come boiling out in anger and he slammed down, ramming the knife over and over into the face of the long dead man. He could have stopped after once or twice…really that wasn't even necessary…but he dropped to his knees near the corpse's head and continued the action time and time again until the face that was once there was reduced to a messy pulp of everything hidden behind what had once been the countenance of the man.

Panting, Daryl got back to his feet, wiping the knife clean on the Walker's clothes but not returning it to his belt.

The sensation to cry was still there and coupled with the tiredness was even worse than before. Daryl stalked around the hall, the knife firmly in his grasp, and tried to work up the anger again. He tried to work up anything that would relieve the feeling that was really taking over him.

He slammed his hands into the concrete wall…wishing he had more to beat…wishing there was more left of the Walker's face to drive his knife into.

He knew he was going to find her if he continued along this path. He'd probably find her sooner rather than later and he was terrified and he felt like his heart was literally being ripped out of his chest by something he couldn't even see.

Daryl sat for a moment on the floor, against the stone wall, and tried to collect himself. The place was silent. There weren't even the sounds of Walker growls echoing around him. The only noise he could hear was the faint clanging of a door…one of the doors to one of the solitary cells not five feet away from him, rocking back and forth.

Daryl glanced toward the door. It was yet another case of some miserable Walker who had wandered in and couldn't wander the fuck back out. The door wasn't locked, but the Walker couldn't open it. There was a dead Walker, one that Daryl had put down the day before, blocking the door and keeping it from opening more than an inch.

For whatever reason, the Walker trapped inside the closet of the solitary cell hadn't tried to venture out the day before or Daryl knew he would have put its sorry ass down too. He'd let every fucker in this hall out of their solitary hell if he could and put them down. But that fucker had stayed quiet and now he was just barely swaying the door on its hinges…letting it open about an inch and slide back shut…because he wanted out.

Daryl sat there, his mind a jumble of thoughts, and absentmindedly stabbed the floor with his knife. He needed to get up. He needed to pull himself together and stop being some kind of pussy who was sitting on the floor with fucking tears falling down his dirty ass cheeks over…

The stupid fucking Walker kept up with the banging. Son of a bitch had stayed quiet the day before…stayed his ass in his stupid ass little dirty cell the whole time Daryl had been walking the space…had stayed fucking quiet and now that Daryl just needed a fucking minute to get his head together, the dirty asshole couldn't do a damn thing but continually push the door open one damn inch over and over and let it fall closed.

The door stopped thudding and Daryl heaved himself to his feet, wiping his face. He passed the handle of the knife to his teeth and gripped the body of the dead Walker. He stood behind the door, so that when the fucker inside finally busted through he couldn't get to him immediately, and he heaved the body out of the way.

Daryl stood in waiting for a moment, but the fucker who had been so damn anxious to come out was quiet again. He'd been building himself up for it for a second…preparing to lunge at the asshole. Preparing to take out on its worthless head some of the frustration that he had built up inside him…but the fucker wasn't coming out.

Daryl tightened his grip on the knife needlessly and yanked the door open, hoping to coax the stupid, dirty Walker out into the hallway. When he still didn't come out, though, and when Daryl heard no growling from inside, he peeked around the door to see what in the world the damn thing could have found to do in there that was so damn important he was no longer anxious to escape.

And when Daryl's eyes settled he felt his heart catch in his throat and his lungs refuse oxygen. There was Carol on the floor of the cell, dirty and bloody, her back barely propped against the wall…crumpled on the floor, her face turned away from him…but he'd have known her anywhere without even seeing her face.

Daryl pulled back his arm, closing one eye and squinting the other, holding his breath as though his lungs even wanted him to breathe at this point and he tried to steady himself enough to do what he'd come to do.

Even as a Walker she was just…gentle. She wasn't even trying to attack him…seemed to have no knowledge of him…no interest. Even as a fucking Walker…

And she lolled her head in his direction and Daryl froze. Her eyes made contact with his for a split second. They were tired, and they were pained, but they were clear enough that Daryl knew immediately that they weren't the eyes of the dead.

Daryl reached out and took her chin in his hand, tipping her head toward him. She looked at him for just a second and then her eyes closed, the weight of her head trying to drop bearing down on his hand. She was cold…but it was cold from the cell, perhaps from blood loss…but it wasn't the frigid cold of the dead.

Daryl dropped to one knee and leaned his face in, putting his cheek against the lips that had kissed him several times over at this point…sometimes passionately and sometimes playfully…and he felt the soft blow of air. She was breathing. Her breath was faint, but it was present.

Carol was alive.

If Daryl's mind had been spinning before it suddenly jumped into overdrive. He returned the knife quickly to his belt and took his feet, collecting her up as carefully as he could, hugging her to him and praying not to make any injuries she'd suffered worse.

He carried her more delicately than he'd ever carried anything before…he wasn't sure that he'd ever held anything in his life that meant more to him than she did at this moment…and tried to move quickly but smoothly back down the hallways.

The hallways seemed even longer than they had before and he felt like he'd never get out of there…he felt like he'd never emerge from the place. He had one thing on his mind, though, and that kept him pushing forward. Carol was alive and he was going to find Hershel. Come hell or high water…whatever he had to do…Carol was alive and Daryl was going to make damn sure she stayed that way. He wasn't letting her down this time.


	31. Chapter 31

**AN: OK, this isn't much, but it's a little update moving us forward! **

**Yay! The show is coming on tonight! I won't be updating anymore tonight because, of course, I must go and ready everything to watch the show! **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! And enjoy the premiere when it comes on too! **

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"Hershel!" Daryl screamed out as soon as he got to the door of the main part of the prison. He couldn't even get it fully open. "Hershel! Damn it! Somebody fuckin' help me! It's Carol!"

Daryl was frantic. He knew he was far more out of control than he ever allowed himself to get but he couldn't help it. He _needed_ some damn body to get off their ass and help him.

Carl appeared first, pushing the heavy door open. Daryl didn't say anything to the boy. He just maneuvered himself so that he could get Carol inside and nearly ran to her cell with her, screaming for Hershel at the top of his lungs so that the request echoed throughout the prison.

Daryl was just easing Carol down onto her bed when Hershel made it there.

"What's going on?" Hershel asked before he'd even entered the cell.

"It's Carol!" Daryl yelled. "She's alive…ya gotta save her."

Hershel came in, his movements a little jumpier than they usually were, probably from not expecting this turn of events.

Daryl stepped back quickly, wanting to give the old man room if he needed it. Wanting to give him anything he needed if he could fix this.

Daryl watched as Hershel quickly examined Carol.

"I'm going to check Alice's office," Hershel said, his voice higher pitched than Daryl was accustomed to and peppered with haste. "Find out where the blood is coming from and if it belongs to her."

Daryl nodded as Hershel stepped out of the cell. Some of the blood was damn so it had to belong to her. Daryl took the knife out of his belt and without hesitation he slit the front of the shirt she was wearing and cut the sleeves off of her, freeing her from the fabric. There was a deep cut on her right arm and a more shallow gash on her chest, just above her breast. Daryl's mind drifted back to the man…the one that had been wearing Carol's knife, the very knife he'd just rested on the bedside table as a postmortem accessory. He'd apparently fought with her…

Hershel came in a moment later with a bag full of things and Daryl moved again, giving him room. Daryl watched as he started an IV for her and gave Daryl the bag and a metal clip which Daryl took and quickly fastened to the bunk above him, feeling for a moment like he could read the old man's mind.

Hershel was examining the cuts now.

"I need…" Hershel started.

"What?" Daryl asked, feeling like the old man was speaking too slowly. He felt a panic coming over him and he'd find the damn blood of a fucking unicorn if that's what the hell the man needed right now.

"Go and find Maggie. Tell her I need hot water. I've got to clean these wounds and try to get them stitched," Hershel said. "She's too weak to fight it off and they look like they're already getting infected."

Daryl was out of the cell and moving at the fastest speed he could muster, ignoring the fact that his body was tired and complaining about all it had done and how little rest he'd gotten lately.

When Daryl found Maggie it was all he could do to keep from choking the girl. He told her he needed hot water and she wanted to ask fucking questions about that shit. He found himself holding her strong by her shoulders and pushing her toward the area where they warmed the bath water. He couldn't answer her questions right now. He just needed her to fucking move her ass.

When Maggie apparently realized that Daryl wasn't going to answer questions and he was considering not letting her live if the water didn't get heated and appear almost immediately in Carol's cell, she went to work.

Daryl turned and ran back to the cell, anxious to see if Hershel was fixing things, anxious to find out if he could do anything to speed the process.

"Is she awake?" Daryl asked, coming in the cell.

"No, son, she's not awake," Hershel responded. "She's barely alive. I gave her something for pain and something for the infection, but I'm going to have to send Maggie and Glenn out soon on a run. A doctor's office or a clinic or something…there's some injectable medicine here, but I don't know how long it'll be before she can swallow. We might run out."

Maggie appeared not long after that carrying a bucket of water from which she sloshed some on the floor.

"It's not boiling, but it's hot," She said.

Maggie came in enough to sit the bucket by Hershel and then backed out of the way, near Daryl.

"She's alive?" Maggie asked in a half whisper.

Daryl bit at his thumb. His heart was pounding and head was racing.

"Yeah…you an' Glenn. Ya gotta go on a run. Hit a clinic…hit doctor's offices…hell whatever ya can. We need antibiotics and pain meds…anythin' ya can carry," Daryl said. He wasn't usually one to tell anyone what they had to do, but Rick was off doing whatever the hell it was that Rick was doing and right now some damn body had to be in control of this shit.

"If you leave now you won't have time to go around safely before dark," Hershel said, working to clean the wounds. "I've got enough here to get through the night if she lives. You can leave first thing in the morning. You're going to need to warm some more water up. When I get these stitched you can clean her up. Poor girl will rest better at least if she's clean."

"Yes sir," Maggie said, turning to head back out the cell.

"She gon' be alright?" Daryl asked, moving forward enough to sit at the edge of the bed. He reached out and put his hand on Carol's leg, watching as Hershel tried to carefully stitch the cuts.

"I don't know Daryl, not yet. The fluids will help…she's severely dehydrated…and she's weak," Hershel said.

Daryl felt his heart pounding.

"She ain't weak," he protested.

Hershel chuckled a little leaning in more and Daryl got to his feet and lit the lantern beside Carol's bed, holding it over where Hershel was working to light the area better.

"Thank you," Hershel mumbled.

Daryl grunged in response.

"And I wasn't calling her weak, Daryl…at least not generally. I just mean that she's lost a lot of blood and she's been a while without food and water. Her body…well after a while it all just starts to shut down," Hershel said.

Daryl watched as he tied off the first set of stitches and went to the second cut, cleaning it carefully before starting to stitch. Daryl could tell that Carol was out cold because she wasn't so much as flinching at neither the cleaning nor the stitches.

"These aren't Walker scratches…" Hershel said. "I wonder what happened. They look like knife wounds."

"Killed a man," Daryl offered. "In the tombs. He still had her knife in his neck. Reckon he give her those 'fore she got him."

"She's lucky. If you hadn't found her today…or even if it had been too much longer…I'd say she wouldn't have a chance at all. At least now she's got a chance," Hershel said.

Daryl didn't want to hear that she had a chance. He didn't want half hearted maybes in this situation. He wanted Hershel to stand up and guarantee him that she was going to live. If he could save Carl from being shot in the chest basically, then he sure as shit had to be able to save Carol from some flesh wounds and thirst.

"What I need ta do?" Daryl asked, trying to make his voice not reflect the turmoil that was going on his head.

"Hmmm?" Hershel hummed, looking at him a minute and pausing in his stitches.

"What the hell I need ta do ta make sure she's OK?" Daryl asked.

"There's nothing much to do right now, Daryl, except wait. She should wake up…at least a little bit…soon. She's got the IV now, that's going to help. I don't know how the medicine I gave her will affect her exactly, so it might make her a little out of it, but at least once she's awake I'll have a better idea of how she's doing," Hershel said.

When he finished the stitches he stood up. Hershel was packing his bag and Daryl stood somewhat to the side, still unsure of what to do with himself. He wasn't exactly good at waiting. He was more of a hands on, get it done, kind of guy.

Maggie came in carrying more water.

"I brought water to wash her up," Maggie said. "It might need to cool a minute. Is it time?"

Hershel nodded slightly.

"We're about to clear out," he said. "And you can take over."

"I'll do it, she's…" Daryl stopped himself. He hadn't even planned for the words to come out of his mouth but somehow they'd just fallen right out. What made him even more nervous was the fact that he knew that he'd stopped himself only seconds before he'd spit out "she's _mine_".

His what? What in the hell was that supposed to mean? He didn't own Carol. Hell, he didn't even have a clue where his brain had decided that would be a good thing to think, less likely to say, but there it had been.

And he didn't know why he felt that way, but even though it freaked him out that he'd almost said that in a cell with Hershel and Maggie, he still _felt_ it. He couldn't explain it, but he felt it. She was his…he didn't know what it meant, but he knew what he felt.

"Excuse me?" Maggie asked.

Daryl realized he'd been quiet for a little longer than he'd intended.

"She's what, Daryl?" Hershel asked.

Daryl glanced at him and he could have sworn there was some kind of hint of a smile across the old man's lips.

"She's shy," Daryl said. "An'…" Daryl got frustrated at himself and the situation. "Hell…I'll do it." He finished.

Hershel nodded at Maggie.

"You can leave the water, Maggie. There's soap in here," Hershel said.

Maggie shot a look in Daryl's direction and Daryl looked at his shoes, clearing his throat softly. Hershel didn't move even after Maggie left the cell and finally Daryl glanced at him.

"What were you going to say, Daryl?" Hershel asked.

Daryl didn't respond. After a second, Hershel smiled and nodded his head.

"Fine, son," Hershel said. "A wise man knows when it's better not to ask questions. Clean her up and let me know if there's anything we missed that needs looking at. I'll be back to check on her, but you let me know if she wakes up or if you need anything."

Daryl nodded slightly at the old man and was thankful that he could breathe a little better once he was gone and Daryl was left alone in the cell with Carol.

When he was alone, Daryl moved and sat on the edge of the bed. He peeled Carol's boots and socks off and then picked the knife up off the bedside table and cut her out of the rest of her clothes. He figured they could find more clothes easily enough if they needed them and he doubted she wanted anything that would remind her of everything she'd been through.

Daryl rolled his sleeves up and squeezed the water out of the rag that was floating around inside the bucket. He lathered up the bar of soap that Hershel had left on the table and started washing Carol, paying close attention to making sure he got everything as clean as he could.

"Need ya ta wake up," Daryl said softly after a moment of working. "I know this is my fault. I shouldn'ta quit lookin' for ya. I shoulda stayed in there 'til I found ya an' ya wouldn't even be like this…an' I'm sorry…"

Daryl continued working, gathering her into his arms carefully to try and wash her back without hurting either of the places that were stitched and bandaged.

"It was real smart of ya…gettin' in that cell where the Walkers couldn't get at'cha…Know ya don't like them spaces, but it was a good idea," Daryl said.

He felt some of the same feelings from earlier boiling inside him. He wanted to slap her or shake her or do whatever it was that he needed to do to get her to wake up and let him know that she was fine, but he wouldn't dare do that.

When he was convinced that she was as clean as he could get her with a bucket of water and a bar and of soap, he pulled a blanket over her, not wanting to try to attempt to dress her in the ragdoll state that she was currently in.

When Daryl was done he watched her. He didn't know if he was fooling himself or if she already looked better than she did earlier. Maybe it was just that she was clean and not coated with dirt and blood, or maybe she was actually regaining some color.

Daryl didn't know what to do, though. He figured that tomorrow…if she woke up and was doing better…he could go outside the gates and get some squirrels. It was the best that he could do this time of year to come up with anything for fresh meat…but maybe Maggie could make some stew or something. Something that would help her build her strength back up.

While he was sitting there, he heard a soft sound coming from Carol and he glanced up. It was a moan and for a moment his heart thudded to screeching halt in fear that he'd missed something and somehow she'd slipped away and come back on him as a Walker. He knew, quickly, though, that this wasn't the case when he looked at her and her eyes had fluttered open. She wasn't actually looking at him at the moment, but her eyes weren't dead eyes.

Daryl smiled and slid up closer to her and she lolled her head in his direction, obviously trying to swallow but having some difficulty at it. Daryl looked around and on the bedside table there was a half-finished bottle of water that had been there since who knows when, but he picked it up and unscrewed the cap. Without saying anything he put his hand under her head and helped her tip her head up enough to get just a little of the water into her mouth, ignoring the fact that a good deal of it trickled out.

"Easy," Daryl said. "Don't'cha get too excited or ya gonna make yaself sick."

Carol looked at him, her eyes steady on him and coughed a little at the water she swallowed. Daryl waited until the coughing subsided and helped her to take another drink of the water, his heart fully pounding in his chest now.

He put the water back on the table and her eyes followed it, making him chuckle a little, even though she hadn't said anything yet.

"Ya can have all the damn water ya want," Daryl said, "just gotta take it a lil' at a time."

Carol sighed, but it sounded more like a sigh of exhaustion than one of frustration. Daryl eased her head back down.

"Need ta go get Hershel an' tell him ya up already," Daryl said. "Ya gotta stay put, though."

As Daryl started to get up, Carol's hand caught his wrist and he stopped, looking back at her.

She swallowed a pained swallow and licked at her lips.

"You saved me," she said, her voice gravelly.

Daryl winced a little. He should have stayed before. He shouldn't have let her stay all that time, alone…hurt and scared…in some dark ass prison cell. She probably thought no one was going to find her ass. She probably figured she was going to die there…and she was almost right because he hadn't stuck it out enough to find her when the whole damn thing started.

Daryl shook his head.

"Didn't save ya," Daryl said.

Carol narrowed her eyes at him.

Daryl sighed.

"Ya saved yaself," Daryl said. "I just found ya ass…"

Daryl let his voice break off when he felt Carol tighten her fingers around his arm. She tried to smile, but her lips were cracked and she winced at the effort, sighing again. Daryl made a mental note that Glenn owed him some favors and he knew that one of the fucking Greene girls had to have some damn chapstick or something.

"Gotta go get Hershel ta make sure ya OK," Daryl said. "Just rest."

"Daryl…" Carol said, she broke off, trying to swallow again Daryl shifted around and got the water bottle, helping her to take a couple more sips. When she nodded at him he put the bottle back on the table and wiped her face with his palm, which was not nearly as absorbent as he'd given it credit for being. "Don't leave?" Carol asked when she'd gotten herself together enough to speak again.

Daryl gnawed at his thumb. He knew that he needed to go and get Hershel. He needed the man to check her and he needed him to say that she was fine and out of the damn woods with this.

"Just gonna go get Hershel," Daryl said. "Ain't goin' nowhere else. I'll stay with ya tonight."

Daryl felt his heart pound at admitting that he would stay with…but he would. He wanted to stay with her. He wanted to make sure that she was fine and he was so damn tired that right now he thought it would be the best damn feeling in the world to was his ass off with the now cool water that was left in the bucked and just crawl right the hell on into the bunk with her…be the damn big spoon…and get some rest.

"Be right back," he said. "Just don't'cha go no damn where."

"I won't…" Carol said softly. "Promise."

Daryl got up quickly and went in search of Hershel, ready to have him put his mind at ease. Then Daryl was thinking he'd ask Maggie to help him find some damn food that he could eat…maybe some soup or some shit that Carol could eat…and he'd probably call it a damn night even though it wasn't time to go to sleep. He figured about all he could expect out of this day had happened, and he and Carol both could use the extra rest.


	32. Chapter 32

**AN: So here we have it, another little update for everyone. Sorry about all the typos in the last chapter! Wow! I guess I shouldn't try to write when I'm excited about an episode that's coming on!**

**I hope you all enjoyed the premiere! I loved it, but I could always do with a little more Caryl! That's what fanfic is for, I guess! **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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_Carol felt like she was swimming…or more floating than swimming…and she wondered if this was what it felt like to die. There was no reality and no fantasy…it was all one thing._

_And she was alone in the dark sometimes, and sometimes she wasn't alone. And when she wasn't alone there were times when she was grateful for the company and other times when she craved the solitude because of the faces that were there and the voices._

_Ed appeared before her…taunting her…threatening her…he appeared as much as anyone else and always just when she'd had the moment of peace…just when she'd seen Daryl and he was speaking to her softly, stroking her hair, his hands ghosting over her body…and Ed was there to remind her that it was Daryl that was the fantasy. Ed was the reality. His taunts…his reminders that she was nothing, had never been anything, and would never be anything…they were real, but Daryl wasn't._

_And Sophia…her sweet Sophia…but she wasn't herself. She wasn't Sophia. She was a Walker and she was angry and she threw at Carol the fact that she hadn't protected her. She hadn't saved her. She'd failed her._

_T-Dog was there…the images burned into her mind of the man being torn apart. Dying for her…and Ed reminding her that she was nothing…T-Dog had died for nothing. _

_Carol heard Alice's voice…Hershel's voice…Daryl…all of them soft…all of them so different than Ed's…none of them angry like Sophia…no one screaming like T-Dog. But they weren't real. None of it was real…or all of it was real…_

_And sometimes she was floating…and sometimes she was drowning…and the water she floated in was so hot…her body was on fire…it burned despite the fact that she was floating in water…and she wondered if this was what it was like before you died. Or maybe she'd already died, and this was what her hell was like._

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When Daryl had woken up, soaking wet and feeling like he had just crawled out of some kind of bog, he knew that something was wrong. In the darkness he let his hands ghost over Carol who was out cold at the moment.

And her body felt like it was far hotter than it should be. He didn't have a thermometer, but he was fairly certain that it wasn't the right temperature.

Daryl wrestled himself out of the blankets, throwing the back off of Carol and crawled over her, searching in the dark for the small camping lantern and getting it lit.

Daryl knew that something was wrong, but he wasn't entirely sure what. He didn't bother, though, even caring that all he was wearing was his boxers. He went straight to Hershel's cell and called at the door, noticing that light was just barely beginning to peek through the prison windows. At least the night was almost done and anything that needed to get done could be done without the cover of the night making things more difficult.

"What is it, Daryl?" Hershel asked.

"S'Carol," Daryl mumbled, still trying to come to from sleep. "Don't know what's wrong, but somethin' ain't right."

Hershel was up before Daryl could find too much reason to complain and was shuffling toward Carol's cell where the lamp illuminated the space. Daryl stood to the side and only then became aware that he was wearing his boxers…and Carol was still naked…and any idiot could figure out he'd been sleeping there. He bit his lip, worried about it, but the old man didn't say a thing. He went directly to Carol and started examining her.

"It's a fever…" Hershel said. "Though it looks like it's broke and come back…"

Hershel's voice sounded heavy and Daryl hoped it was just from sleep.

"We don't have a lot of antibiotic," Hershel said, "but she's going to need more help fighting this infection off than I thought. I hope…"

Hershel glanced at Daryl and his voice broke off. Daryl could think of a million things that he hoped, but he didn't know if any of them matched with what the man might be thinking.

"Daryl, can you wake Glenn and Maggie?" Hershel asked. "Tell them that I need them to go on that run as soon as possible. I gave Maggie the list."

Daryl grabbed his pants off the floor and wrestled into them, not even caring that he had no idea where his shirt was. To hell with all of them if his scars bothered them.

Daryl double stepped to Glenn and Maggie's cell and roused them, nearly dragging them both out of the bed by their hair. They were up and running before too much time passed and they spoke quietly to Hershel before leaving. Daryl followed them down to the gates, slipping his shoes on quickly, and let them out on the run.

As he walked back up the yard, Daryl dug a cigarette that was worse for the wear and had been crumpled in his pants pocket. He straightened it as best he could with his fingers and lit the thing with lighter he carried in the other pocket.

It was cold and far too damn cold to be outside without his shirt on, but for a moment even the cold felt good. It felt shocking and refreshing. It felt real for a moment.

Hershel was inside now, tending to Carol who was unconscious. He was dosing her up on antibiotics and God only knew what else and his voice had sounded worried.

And now Daryl wasn't even sure what he was thinking or how to handle things.

He'd fallen asleep, holding her against him…he'd been the big spoon, as Alice had called it. And as soon as he'd pulled her close to him and settled the blanket over them…as soon as he'd let his head drop on the pillow and he'd breathed in the smell of soap and the warm, sweet smell that was consistently Carol no matter where they'd been or what they'd been through…no matter how many days they'd gone without bathing or how many Walkers they'd killed…as soon as all that was done he'd fallen into the deepest sleep that he could remember.

And Daryl wasn't sure what to do with any of it. The thought of losing her…even now…was something that he didn't even want to entertain. He wanted it all to just go away, and he wanted her to be fine. That was it…no fever, no worries, nothing. She just needed to be fine.

But Daryl wasn't sure what the feeling meant. Hell he was a Dixon. Dixons didn't have feelings about women that lasted too damn long unless they were mixed with anger and bitterness…and he didn't want to do that shit to her. And he wasn't some kind of fucker that was going to write poetry and shit. He didn't even want to entertain the thought of some of the words that were dancing around in his head like they didn't even belong there.

He didn't want anyone to know, either, the thoughts that he'd been having, and he wasn't entirely comfortable with the way that Hershel was looking at him, though another part of him didn't really care that the old man probably knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he'd slept with her the night before.

He just needed her to get better, and then the rest of this shit could work itself out.

Daryl finished the cigarette that hadn't satisfied anything more than the crying out that his body had been doing for nicotine and flicked the spent butt at the ground. He went back inside the prison, stretching himself as he walked, and made his way back to the cell where Hershel was with Carol.

"I'm not familiar with some of this," Hershel said, going through a sack of bottles that they'd acquired along the way. "It's a guessing game of what's too much and what's enough."

"Maggie an' Glenn are gone," Daryl said. "Maybe they'll bring back the right stuff."

Hershel nodded a little.

"I'm going to keep giving her fluids," Hershel said. "I gave her something to bring the fever down so that might help bring her around at least a bit. I just hope I haven't overloaded her system…or mixed anything I shouldn't have."

Hershel paused a minute, walking toward Daryl.

"She wasn't bitten or scratched anywhere, was she?" Hershel asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"Not that I could tell. She was dirty but she ain't had no wounds but them two cuts," Daryl offered.

Hershel nodded again and put his hand on Daryl's shoulder.

"She's going to need someone to take care of her," Hershel said. "At least until she comes out of this. Do you want me to send Beth?"

Daryl shook his head. He knew that Carol was strange about the other women seeing her. She was ashamed of her body…ashamed of herself…even if he didn't understand it. He figured that adding insult to injury wasn't necessary and for the time being he didn't have anything else to do unless he was going to go skipping off to find wherever Rick might have wandered to and try to fix him…and right now he really didn't feel equipped to do that.

"I got her," Daryl said.

"Can I ask you something Daryl?" Hershel asked. "And if it's none of my business or you don't want to talk about it then you can feel free to just tell me."

Daryl held his breath a minute, already feeling like he knew what the man might ask. He swallowed and nodded slightly, wanting to be respectful to the man that had been more of a father figure to him since he'd known him than his old man had been.

"What is your…relationship with Carol Ann?" Hershel asked.

Daryl looked at him, but he couldn't bring himself to answer the question. He didn't know the answer, at least not entirely. She was his best friend, but he considered Rick a best friend too and he'd considered Merle damn near the closest thing he had to a best friend before all this shit went down…but it was different and he wasn't ready to even face for himself the difference.

Hershel stood there a moment, looking right back at him and then repeated the familiar nod, patting him on the shoulder.

"Let me know if anything changes," Hershel said. "I'll see about bringing you some breakfast…and something for her if she's awake enough to drink something soon."

Daryl watched as Hershel walked out of the cell and down the hallway, leaving him alone with Carol again.

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Hershel stepped out of the prison to start a lap around the yard. He needed the air, he needed to clear his mind, and he was also hoping to catch some glance of Rick who had all but disappeared. He was hoping to find the man on watch or wandering somewhere out in the yard, since it appeared that he wasn't inside any longer.

It was almost dusk…or at least it would be before any great number of hours had lapsed. Glenn and Maggie should be returning soon with the medication that they'd been sent to get, and maybe with formula for Judith or some other little necessity. Sometimes the runs only turned up a specific profit, but sometimes they surprised everyone. Really it was all contingent upon the Walker population of the area and how quickly things could be carried out.

Hershel didn't want to say too much to Daryl about his concerns with Carol. It was evident that Daryl was fighting some of his own demons and the last thing they needed was anything that was going to push the man over the edge. Rick was, for lack of a better expression, on hiatus from reality and Daryl was left as the best possible person to assume a leadership role if they needed it…and Hershel didn't want anyone or anything tipping him in the direction that Rick had gone.

It appeared to Hershel that Daryl was, perhaps, coming to terms with the feelings he had for Carol. They were feelings that Hershel thought were pretty evident, but he'd learned enough about Daryl and enough about the man's past from a few scattered conversations had here and there on the road to wonder if, for however evident they were to Hershel, Daryl had any ideas about what his feelings might mean.

For the time being, Daryl clearly knew that he cared about whether or not Carol survived, and he was willing to do whatever he could to earn from Hershel the guarantee that she would. That was all that Hershel was going to work with at the moment. He'd leave the man to figure the rest out on his own time.

What bothered Hershel most, though, was that he couldn't offer Daryl the guarantee that he craved. Carol's wounds were severely infected from not being cleaned in a timely manner. On top of that, her body wasn't as fit as it could have been to fight off the infection. Hershel also worried that among the dust and much that he cleaned out of the wounds, some of it may have been Walker related…and he didn't know if that meant anything.

The medications that had been collected here and there and compiled into the bags that they kept were also questionable to Hershel. He'd worked as a vet, and many of the ideas were the same as human medication as to what kinds of medicines could be used to treat certain kinds of illnesses, but there were a good number of things in the bag that he simply wasn't familiar with. He might be able to identify them as belonging to one family or another, but he had little knowledge of how to handle dosing and he wasn't confident that he was even doing what he needed to do to effectively treat Carol.

But he wouldn't dare let Daryl know that. For now, it was best to leave Daryl with all the hope he could muster and Hershel would hold onto the hope that when Glenn and Maggie returned, it would be with a supply of antibiotics he could gauge a little better.

As Hershel slowly walked along, he spotted Carl down by the fence line, leaning against one of the overturned vehicles in the yard, gazing out at the road. Apparently he was there, waiting, for Glenn and Maggie's return so that he could open the gates to let them pass into the yard whenever they arrived.

Near him was Rick, ambling about, gazing out into the distance.

The sight made Hershel shake his head a little and start to aim his steps in that direction, pondering a little more the situation. Rick was overcome by the death of Lori. He had let it consume his mind entirely.

Hershel would have contributed it simply to an overwhelming amount of grief felt at the loss of the love of his life…if he hadn't known the situation a little better.

Rick had loved Lori, that much had been evident. Rick had almost worshipped the woman when Hershel had first met him. Even in the turmoil surrounding Carl's situation, it was evident that for Rick, Lori was his rock…she was something he based his own survival on, almost.

Since getting to know them better, and since learning their stories a little more through their own telling and through simply observing the way that things happened in the group, Hershel had found out that the search for Carl and Lori…the quest for his family…had been what kept Rick going and what had essentially gotten the man this far. Without his family, Hershel wondered if Rick would have kept pushing on or if he'd have simply given up a long time ago.

The feelings, though, that Rick had for Lori and his son never seemed to be quite mirrored in Lori. On the surface one could easily believe that she loved Rick, and Hershel wouldn't dare to say that she didn't, but it wasn't the same kind of love.

Hershel knew about what had happened between Lori and Shane. Everyone knew it, at least in one form or another. It was almost the stuff of legends and was whispered about and contemplated about for entertainment value when they were on the road, especially following Lori's somewhat violent response to the news of Shane's death and the almost entire meltdown of Rick and Lori's relationship that followed.

And so, that entire situation being known, Hershel doubted that Lori had the same kind of feelings for Rick that he had for her…and he wondered if Rick's breakdown, or whatever it could be called, had started long ago when the whole situation came to a head and was simply aided by the death of Lori, and perhaps, Rick's realization that the love he had for her would never be reciprocated.

Regardless of what caused the particular brand of breakdown that Rick was suffering, though, it was evident that the man was not well and that they were going to have to do something to bring him back from the brink, especially if they were to have any hope of saving Carl from even farther suffering.

Hershel's musings were interrupted by Carl yelling. He shot his head in the boy's direction, expecting to see the approaching vehicle of Glenn and Maggie, but at first he saw nothing out of the ordinary. At first, all he saw was the same scene that had been there earlier…a bunch of Walkers ambling about outside the fences.

Then, when Hershel directed his gaze at Rick who had taken off in a jog toward Carl, he focused in on the fence line a little farther down from the gate and realized that there were people out there. They weren't Walkers, though from this distance he could make out nothing specific about them.

Hershel picked up his own pace and jogged toward the gate where Carl and Rick were discussing something. He could hear screaming, though he wasn't focusing on what was happening exactly, and he immediately doubted his own ears.

The voice that was echoing through the yard was a voice that he'd heard before and it was one with which they were all familiar…it was _Alice_.

By the time that Hershel made it down to the gates, Alice was walking through the yard, half supporting a black woman that looked to be almost unconscious, and Rick was supporting the rest of her weight. Hershel approached the two of them, not really sure how to react. He glanced back at Carl who was coming, carrying a few duffle bags.

"I'll take those, son," Hershel called out. "Wait for Glenn and Maggie."

"No need to wait," Alice said as they passed by him. "They won't be coming…"

Hershel stopped for a minute, his heart pounding.

"What happened?" He asked, turning quickly and grabbing the woman he still wasn't sure wasn't a phantom hard enough to nearly make her drop her new friend.

Alice was filthy, scratched up, and out of breath, but as she stopped and turned her head to face Hershel, he knew she wasn't a ghost at all. He could also tell that she didn't want to deliver whatever news it was she was about to share with them.

"They were captured," she said. "Taken to Woodbury...I need to explain inside, though. Michonne's lost a lot of blood and I'm not doing so hot myself," Alice said, gesturing to her side where Hershel now noticed she had a rudimentary bandage tied over some sort of wound that was seeping blood.

Hershel nodded. He hoped that by getting them inside and getting them patched up, he could find out how they might retrieve his eldest daughter. One thing he did know, though, was that if he didn't keep himself under control long enough to help the women, he might never find out where Glenn and Maggie were…and for that alone he could keep himself calm until the job was done.


	33. Chapter 33

**AN: You're all so great! Here's another little chapter for you! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Are you fucking serious with this shit?" Alice screeched as Rick slammed the holding cell door. Daryl heard both the screech and the clanging of the cell door and it drew him out of Carol's cell, not believing his ears. "What the fuck is going on?"

"You're supposed to be dead," Rick responded, his voice sharper than usual.

Daryl rounded the corner and came up on the cell, not believing his eyes. A battered and worse for the wear Alice was standing inside the cell, her hands wrapped around the bars, but she was standing there, every bit alive as he was or as anyone else in the room.

"Fine," Alice said, keeping her eyes on Rick. "Just let me patch both of us up and we'll be on our way…so sorry I forgot to die."

"Now just calm down, everyone," Hershel said. "Rick, I don't think we need to lock them up. We know Alice."

"Where are Glenn and Maggie?" Rick asked, ignoring Hershel.

Daryl was still trying to figure out what in the hell was going on. Where did they get Alice? Why was Rick putting her in a holding cell? What would she know about Glenn and Maggie when the two of them were on a run and had been gone since morning? Daryl wondered if he'd gotten caught in some kind of time warp while taking care of Carol.

"I told you," Alice said. "They're on their way to Woodbury."

"What is Woodbury?" Hershel asked, his voice gentler than Rick's.

"Listen," Alice said. "I'll tell you every damn thing you want to know…but Michonne needs help. She needs water and there's a bullet lodged in her thigh, OK? I've got a knife wound here that's about two inches long and I'd like for both of us to ease up on the bleeding before we both fucking kill over from blood loss."

Hershel glanced at Daryl, apparently only then realizing that he'd walked up.

"Daryl, can you bring me the bag out of Carol's cell? I need to patch these ladies up," Hershel said.

Alice let out an audible sigh and slinked away from the bars and toward the pile on the floor that Daryl could now assume was this Michonne person that she spoke of.

Daryl turned quickly to go and get the bag and bring it back to Hershel. When he returned, Rick was standing with his arms crossed and Hershel had opened the cell door, though Alice was making no move to try to exit at the moment.

"She's not coming out…neither one of them are…not until we know what's going on," Rick said. "How do we know they weren't part of what happened?"

Hershel took the bag that Daryl offered, his arm outstretched. Daryl was still trying to make sense of the whole thing and it felt like the whole situation was surreal for everyone involved.

"Do you really think Alice turned Walkers lose on us, Rick?" Hershel asked.

Hershel passed into the cell and Alice waved him at the woman on the ground.

"Rick, can you get me some hot water please?" Hershel asked.

Rick looked at Daryl for a moment, an anger burning in his eyes that Daryl wasn't sure he understood, but he was certain that he didn't like.

"I could get it," Daryl said.

"Rick…" Hershel said.

Rick grunted and walked off and Daryl stepped into the cell, standing over Alice. He swallowed.

"Thought'cha was fuckin' dead," Daryl said.

Alice looked up at him.

"Yeah, I got the memo," Alice said. "Lookie here, I'm not."

"Went back for ya…" Daryl said. "Where the fuck were ya?"

Alice wrinkled her forehead at him.

"Woodbury," she responded.

"Where is this Woodbury?" Hershel asked.

Alice shrugged a little.

"If you'll help Michonne…she knows better than I do. My sense of direction is shit. The only reason we made it here was because she figured out where the hell to go," Alice said. "It's a town…got the whole place blocked off…walled off. It's like fucking Hotel California. You can check out any fucking time you want but you can't ever leave. We tried to leave. That's how she got shot and fucking Captain Hook's sadistic fucking brother gashed me," Alice said.

"Where do Glenn and Maggie fit in?" Hershel asked, his voice soft and low and Daryl thought that maybe he didn't want Rick to overhear anything, but he couldn't be sure.

Alice shrugged.

"Honestly? I don't know…" Alice said. "We left…and Captain Hook followed us. There's this guy…runs the place and goes by the name of the Governor. He's a real skeezy character…like if I wasn't gay I would be just by looking at him…so he's got his henchmen and Captain Hook or whatever the fuck the asshole's real name is like his right hand man…or his right _bayonet_ man or whatever. So anyway, we left and he comes after us. Tries his damnedest to kill us. Michonne pretty much saved my ass, but we didn't get away unharmed, as you can see. So anyhow…we were trying to find our way here and we passed through a town to look for supplies to patch up this shit. While we were there, we find out that Captain Hook, uninjured because we didn't exactly kick his ass with the same ferocity he hit us with…he wasn't bleeding or anything…was talking to Glenn and Maggie. We hid because I didn't think we could handle another round with him and then they left with him, but it wasn't by choice. I picked up that duffel bag…saw it was full of meds and shit…and figured hell must have broken loose here, so we double timed it to get here. Now I guess they're on their way to Woodbury."

During Alice's speech, Rick had returned with a bucket of water which he carried in and put down next to Hershel. Daryl watched as the man went to work cleaning the wound of the woman and digging out the bullet. She was out cold, but Daryl figured it was for the best at the moment. Alice unwrapped the bandage around her side and revealed her own wound, starting to wash it with the water as well.

"I'll help you in a minute," Hershel offered.

"Not a big deal," Alice spat, obviously pained by cleaning the wound. "Just a scratch, really."

"How long have you been in the area?" Rick asked suddenly, drawing attention to himself leaning against the bars of the cell.

"You mean around the prison?" Alice asked.

"Yeah…around the prison," Rick said.

"Let's see…we got here about two minutes before we started fighting all those fucking Walkers at the fence. You got a watch?" Alice responded, hissing a little.

Daryl stepped forward and without saying anything took the rag from her and started to clean the wound. She responded by leaning back on her hands, giving him better access.

"What happened to ya out there? How'd ya end up in Woodbury?" Daryl asked.

"I don't know," Alice said. "Got hit in the fucking head or something. Woke up and I was in some makeshift hospital room in what the hell was probably a bed and breakfast or some shit. I didn't even know where I was…I'm still not sure where I was…until I left with Michonne. There's plenty of time for story time later, though, assuming Rick lets us stay."

"Now I don't know about that," Rick started.

"Ya stayin'," Daryl said, shooting a look in Rick's direction.

He'd already worked out part of the puzzle for himself. Rick didn't know who the hell the men were that broke their asses in here and started the shit that lost them T-Dog and lost them Lori…and almost lost them Carol. Nobody knew who the fuck the men were, but Daryl had figured they were a passing couple of survivors. Maybe thieves or maybe they were just fucking unlucky…either way he figured the men were working alone and they were dead and there wasn't any going back.

What Daryl was certain of was that Alice hadn't been part of the plan. He hated to say that he thought he knew the woman…since there was a good damn deal about her that was pretty much a fucking mystery to him…but he felt like he knew her well enough to know she wouldn't do some shit like that. She might be an asshole when she ran her mouth…but she wasn't the kind of person to turn Walkers loose on people she'd spent that many damn months with…and she cared about Carol. She'd have never turned Walkers loose on Carol.

When Hershel had finished with Michonne, only moments later, he got up and moved to start working on Alice. Daryl didn't say anything about it, but he traded places with the old man and went to look at the woman who was crumpled on the floor, probably out from blood loss or exhaustion or some combination.

"Rick…can ya bring some drinkin' water? Somethin' like some crackers?" Daryl asked.

He could go for it himself, but it was best to keep Rick busy…and a busy and absent Rick was even better until they figured out what the fuck was going on and what they were doing.

"Glenn an' Maggie," Daryl said. "They gon' be safe in this place ya talkin' 'bout? It's almost dark if it ain't dark by now."

Daryl knew that going out at this hour was dangerous. It could damn near be suicide for whoever dared to do it. Still, if Glenn and Maggie were in danger, then they didn't have much of a choice and it was probably going to be him going alone…unless Rick felt up to the challenge…or one of these women did.

Alice panted, looking in his direction while Hershel was working on the wound.

"Don't know…" Alice said. "I don't know why they went with him. When I got there they didn't hurt me…took care of me and offered me a place to stay. I blabbed and told them I was a doctor. That's when I figured out I wasn't in Kansas anymore. The Governor had people there…he was having them doctored, but the fuckers were dying."

Daryl shrugged.

"People do that," he said.

"You're telling me?" Alice responded. She snickered a little. "Dying when they had no business doing it. Disappearing too. Just they were there…and then they weren't…and they told me they were dead…but I'm telling you these people had no reason to die. Something smelled fishy."

"So ya think they ain't safe?" Daryl asked.

Hershel got up then, satisfied that Alice's wound was as well tended as it could be for the moment.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Alice said.

Daryl nodded a little. He knew he was going to have to find this Woodbury place.

"Can we get in?" He asked.

"Place is better guarded than a prison…no pun intended," Alice said. "If anyone could get in and out, though, it's Michonne. She's practically a fucking ninja."

The heap on the floor beside Daryl was starting to come around a little, but ninja wasn't his first thought.

"Reckon we need ta leave as soon as possible," Daryl said.

Rick came back in the cell offering Daryl a couple of bottles of water and a pack of crackers. Daryl opened one of the bottles and dribbled some over the half conscious ninja's face and she started to come around more.

"Leave?" Rick asked.

"We're goin' ta Woodbury," Daryl responded. "Gettin' Maggie an' Glenn back."

"If you can spare her, Alice should stay here," Hershel said. "She's downplaying this wound. It's more serious than that gunshot and she's got a better chance of infection…internal bleeding. I could use her services, too."

Daryl glanced at Rick.

"Ya with me, brother?" Daryl asked. "Need ya ta come the fuck back. If ya can't, though, I'll go on my own…take the ninja here."

Rick shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He sighed.

"No…we need to go and get them," Rick said. "Do we even know where we're going?"

"That's why we takin' the ninja," Daryl said.

Michonne pulled herself up then and Daryl looked at the woman who was eying him with some waryness. He passed her the bottle of water and she looked in Alice's direction. Alice nodded at her and she drank from the bottle, coughing a little.

"Can you take them to Woodbury?" Alice asked. "Show them how to get there so they can get our friends?"

Rick turned quickly.

"Friends?" He sneered. "Who were the men that broke in here? Did you know about it?"

Alice looked at Rick like he'd sprouted a head and then looked at Daryl, obviously searching for some clarification.

"Few days ago," Daryl said, softly. "Some men cut the fence in the yard. Let a whole buncha Walkers in. We lost…"

Daryl paused and glanced at Rick who was staring intently at Alice as though he expected her to reveal that she was part of this master plan.

"Lost Lori," Daryl said. "T…Carol's…well she got lost an' she ain't doin' good."

Alice looked like she was trapped somewhere between panic and disbelief.

"Lost…lost as in let's go find them?" Alice asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"Found Carol…but Lori an' T…" he said. He didn't finish and from the look on Alice's face, he didn't have to. He figured he could have hit her in the face with a brick and not elicited a more surprised expression.

"You think I did that?" Alice asked, looking at Rick, her voice cracking.

"Nobody thinks you did anything," Hershel said with a heavy sigh. "We think you got lost…picked up by somebody…and now you're back. We don't have all day to throw false blame at one another if Glenn and Maggie are going to be found safe."

Daryl could tell by Hershel's tone that he wasn't playing anymore. He would put a stop to Rick himself if he had to and Daryl couldn't say he would be bothered to see the man help get Rick in line…if it would actually help.

"If we're going," Michonne said, every head turning at her first words, "we need to go now. At night they won't be expecting us…won't be prepared. It's less guarded at night."

"The whole place has got a curfew," Alice said. "Unless you're working for the Governor…then you're on call whenever he fucking pleases."

Daryl got up from where he was and dusted his hands off on his pants.

"Goin' ta get my bow…check in on Carol," he said. He looked at Alice. "Can ya help her?"

Alice nodded and reached a hand toward him. Daryl remembered the woman's wound and reached down, catching her under her arms as though she were a small child and pulling her up, practically standing her on her feet.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

Daryl nodded his head.

"What's wrong with her?" Alice asked him.

"Knife wounds," Hershel said. "At least that's what we think. Badly infected and she was lost for some time. Severe dehydration…we really don't know what else. Now she's got a raging fever and I didn't have what we needed as far as medicine. Now we've got a sack of medicine and a doctor, though…doesn't seem so grim."

Alice smiled softly, glancing at Hershel.

"Well fuck…" she said. "I go on vacation for a couple of days and you just let everything go to hell in a handbasket, right? Infection? Not a problem."

Daryl bit at his thumb, nodding slightly at the woman.

"She's in her cell. Ain't conscious," he said. He grabbed the woman by the upper arm and pulled her from the cell, a little out of earshot of the others. He leaned in close enough to her that he could actually feel her breath against his skin. "Look out for her…stay with her…I gotta go an' get 'em back…"

When he moved back, Alice was smiling a little.

"Go get them," Alice said. "I've got this shit covered."

Daryl nodded again and quickly went to get his bow out of the cell. Carol was in bed, looking small and weak and alone. He'd covered her with the blanket, but he was thankful to know that Alice was back. The woman might not be able to do a single damn thing, but he felt like right now he believed she could work miracles.

Daryl stood there for a second before reaching down and taking Carol's hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin on the top of her hand and then resting it back on the bed.

As he turned to walk out of the cell, Alice was standing there, dragging the bag Carl had carried in earlier behind her.

She didn't say anything, she just stepped out of the way and let him pass by before going in, dragging the bag along behind her like some kind of security blanket.

Daryl sighed and figured it was going to be one long ass night. He stepped back into the main part of the cell, speaking briefly to Hershel and then making sure that the quiet woman who had come in with Alice was steady enough on her feet to move. When he was sure that she was, he handed her the pack of crackers and extra bottle of water he'd left on the floor, and which remained ignored by her, and walked out of the prison with the woman and Rick in tow to choose one of their vehicles and head toward this Woodbury place.

He figured it was going to be a long night, but at least they'd go and they'd get Glenn and Maggie back. They'd come back to the prison and when they got back, Alice would have fixed everything with Carol. It might be a long night, but at the end of this shit there was at least the bright light of the dawn…a brand new day.


	34. Chapter 34

**AN: OK, we have another little piece of our story here.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Well hey there, beautiful," Carol heard Alice say as she opened her eyes. She felt tired and stiff. She turned her head slightly, seeing Alice doing something. The woman smiled at her. "I've been waiting for you to come on back around," Alice said. "I was just changing out your IV. Figured you could use the extra fluid and that's one thing we've got a ton of. How are you feeling?"

Carol wasn't sure if she was dreaming again or not. In fact, she wasn't really sure what was happening. So much had seemed to be happening to her lately and she wasn't sure if any of it was real or if all of it was real.

Carol swallowed. Her throat felt raw.

"Daryl found you?" She asked, realizing her voice came out in more than a croak than she expected it to.

Alice smiled and sat down gently on the edge of the bed. Carol moved to give her more room and realized she was sore, though it felt like the pain was oddly far away and present at the same time.

"Yep, he found me," Alice said. She settled down beside Carol and ran her fingers through Carol's hair.

Carol glanced around the cell. Now she knew she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating or whatever. In a good number of the pleasant dream like states that she'd been in, Alice had been there, but Daryl had been in all of them…and he wasn't here now.

"What's with the face?" Alice asked, continuing to lightly scratch at Carol's scalp.

"Is Daryl here?" Carol asked.

"He's gone out…had to take care of a couple of things, but he's been here," Alice said. "He's been here the whole time…just asked me if I would hang out with you for a bit, until he gets back."

Carol almost didn't believe what she was hearing from Daryl. He'd been there the whole time? How long was that? The last thing that Carol could clearly remember was being in the prison, trying to find her way out. There had been a man that had appeared out of nowhere and he'd tried to kill her. She had been so tired then from fighting through what seemed like a steady stream of Walkers…so overcome with what had happened to T-Dog that she'd fought back with all she had and run as soon as she could. She'd lost her knife in the process and when the Walkers kept coming she'd known she was going to die. She'd closed herself into an empty cell that she'd found and prayed that someone would come for her, even though she'd doubted they would.

And she'd waited in the darkness for someone to come…or death to come. She'd resigned herself to either possibility.

"What happened?" Carol asked.

The facial expression that crossed Alice's face was an odd one and there was some panic there that Carol hadn't expected.

"Uh…well…" Alice started. She cleared her throat and resumed the scratching at Carol's head that she'd stopped briefly. It was actually a very soothing feeling, and Carol couldn't much complain about her resuming it. "You…uh…got lost…"

Carol nodded a little and moved a little closer to Alice's leg which was beside her, curling more into the woman. She felt sleepy and the scratching was making her eyes droop more.

"And then Daryl found you," Alice said. "And then he brought you back here and now we're making you better."

Carol snickered a little. Alice was lying and she was a very, very bad liar. Something about the story wasn't the truth, but Carol had no way of knowing what it was exactly.

"You're lying," Carol said softly. "You're a really bad liar. What really happened?"

Carol yawned without being able to stop herself.

Alice sighed.

"I don't know what happened," Alice said. "At least not really. Daryl didn't find me. I've been on a little…trip…and I just got back last night. That's the part that's the lie. Daryl's been looking out for you and he did find you…and he did ask me to stay with you…and we are making you better. But honestly, I don't really know what happened before that."

"So why lie?" Carol asked, yawning again.

Alice smiled.

"Sometimes lying to someone is the best thing you can do for them," Alice said. "If it's a harmless lie…and it makes them feel better…"

"Don't lie to me," Carol said softly. "I trust you…don't lie to me."

Alice nodded her head.

"Fine, I won't lie to you," Alice said. "Apparently you're immune to my lying anyway. I've always sucked at that shit. One reason I hate having to talk to patients' families. If I didn't think things were going to be great, it was hard to be positive about it."

Carol smiled.

"Where is Daryl, really?" Carol asked.

"Really?" Alice responded. "Really he's gone out. I didn't lie about that. He's gone to take care of some things that need to be taken care of. He's coming back. You need to rest, though. He's going to be happy to see that your fever's gone and you're looking better. Even better if you think you might eat something for me soon…the anorexic look isn't good on you."

Carol smiled, feeling her eyelids droop.

"He was worried about my fever?" Carol asked.

Alice chuckled.

"Sure was," Alice said. "I've told you a thousand times…the man's bitten by the love bug. Of course he's worried when you're all out of it and shit."

Alice pulled away from Carol then and got up as gently as she'd sat down. Carol followed her with her eyes for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Carol asked.

"What?" Alice asked.

"There's something wrong with you," Carol said. "What is it?"

Alice smiled and chuckled a little. She reached over and touched Carol's hand with hers, pinching her fingers gently between her own.

"Now that's something you just don't need to worry about," Alice said. "I'm going to get you something to eat…take a nap before I get back or I won't hesitate to drug your ass again after you eat."

Carol wanted to ask more questions. She wanted more information in general, but she could tell that Alice was resolved not to give it to her. She nodded a little and let her head drop to the side, closing her eyes and yawning again at the sleepiness that was trying to take over her.

She never heard Alice leave the cell to get food…and she didn't hear her when she came back.

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Daryl wasn't sure if surprised was the right word to use to describe what he'd felt when they'd first found this Woodbury place. The trip there had been quiet. He was in a vehicle with a woman that he didn't know whom Alice had described as a ninja. Right now, though, she seemed tired and angry with the world. Rick was there and Daryl wasn't sure how much he trusted the man's mental state at all. Not to mention that it was dark and that was the worst time of all to be wandering outside the prison gates, even if you didn't doubt the stability of either of your companions.

They'd stopped the car at the woman, Michonne's, beckoning by the roadside. She'd declared that they'd be spotted easily if they were stupid enough to drive any closer to the place. The place was guarded and she suspected that there were something like roaming guards in the area…and she informed him that she was pretty sure they were ordered to kill anyone who came close. Daryl felt like trusting her on this was the best idea since they clearly didn't have anything else to go on and he wasn't trying to get killed tonight if it could be avoided.

So they'd fought their way through a lightly wooded area, and that's when he'd first seen a few of the ninja like reflexes of his new acquaintance. She carried a samurai sword and seemed quite adept with it to say the least. She clearly wasn't afraid of Walkers either. She limped along, almost shoulder to shoulder with Daryl, swiping at Walkers as though they were flies while Rick wandered a few steps behind them.

Michonne had let them to the back part of a wall and they'd worked their way over it, following her lead. Apparently she'd spent some time in this place and had scoped out a good deal of it. Daryl wasn't asking questions. He didn't figure she seemed inclined to answer them at any rate, and he wasn't too concerned with the details at the moment.

Once they were inside, they'd found where Glenn and Maggie were being kept with relative ease, thanks to their new ninja. She'd led them right to a warehouse type building that she suspected was the most likely place and once they'd begun wandering around the presence of voices let them know that they weren't alone.

A couple of guards were keeping watch outside a room and Michonne had created a diversion for them, drawing them away long enough for Daryl and Rick to investigate the space and discover a badly beaten Glenn and a disheveled and topless Maggie.

Daryl cut the cloth that had their hands bound with his knife and shushed them, leading them out of the space as quickly as possible. He hadn't been sure if they were supposed to wait for the ninja or not…or what had even happened to her.

Rick had quietly suggested that they had to go. What happened to her was her own business now. She was the one that had chosen to disappear. Daryl wasn't sure how he felt about it, but he knew that they needed to get Glenn back to the prison because the boy could barely keep his feet. Maggie, now wearing Glenn's shirt, was shook up as well…Daryl had to simply assume that the ninja had found the prison once and she could find it again.

Quietly they made their way back to the place where they'd snuck in. It was a clean get away. Frankly, Daryl would have thought it was too easy, but apparently the woman had kept anyone from finding them out and they were outside the walls of the place without any problem before they even really knew it.

"I think I oughta go back in for her," Daryl whispered when they were in the woods just beyond the wall. "Ain't right ta drag her out here an' then just leave her."

"That wasn't part of the plan," Rick said.

Daryl sighed.

"Look, man, there weren't no plan," Daryl said. "The plan was ta get Glenn an' Maggie an' we got 'em. We ain't said we was gonna leave the woman behind."

"We didn't say she should disappear so we have to go looking for her either," Rick said.

Rick leaned and put his hand on Daryl's shoulder.

"I'm not trying to be hard about this," Rick argued. "She knows the place. She knew how to get here…she knew how to get in…she knew how to get them. She found the prison. If she wants, she could come back to the prison. We don't even know that this isn't some kind of trap."

Daryl sighed.

"If it was a trap then the gig'd be up by now," Daryl said. "Why would they let us get out here if they was just gonna trap us? Ain't no damn trap, Rick…she got us in an' we got them."

Daryl stopped talking and stepped toward Glenn who looked like he was woozy and maybe about to hit the ground. He slipped Glenn's arm over his shoulder to support some of his weight. He sighed and glanced back at the wall.

"We gotta get 'em back ta the car," he said. "Then we'll figure out what to do."

Daryl figured that if he got them back to the car, Rick would want to go back to the prison, and that was fine. At least he'd get Glenn and Maggie back quickly. Daryl figured he could go back on his own, find the woman, and get the hell out of Dodge. He didn't want to just leave her behind, though. He didn't even know her, but he was sick of leaving people behind and losing people all over the damn place.

Rick slipped under Glenn's other arm and supported him, helping him move along through the woods, back toward where the vehicle was parked and waiting on them. Maggie followed along, hovering nearby, her teeth audibly chattering, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

"It was Merle…" Glenn spat suddenly, his head lolling a little.

Daryl wasn't sure if the boy was hallucinating or what. From the looks of him he'd taken a really good beating and may have suffered some head trauma, though Daryl wasn't a doctor and couldn't be sure what the hell head trauma might do to a person.

"What?" Daryl asked.

Glenn swallowed noisily and coughed a little, sputtering.

"It was Merle," he said again. "Merle took us…he did this."

Daryl stopped and Rick continued forward, causing them to roughly tug at the Korean boy for a moment before Daryl resumed his steps.

"What'cha mean?" Daryl asked.

He still hadn't entirely discredited his first thought that the boy was simply hallucinating.

"Merle…" Glenn said again. "He took us to that place…he tortured me…wanted to know where we were…where you were."

"Merle's in that place?" Daryl asked.

He had thought that his brother was dead. The truth was that he had kind of resigned himself already to believing Merle was simply dead and gone and no more thought needed to go into the matter. He couldn't say that he'd mourned his brother, exactly, since he wasn't sure exactly what that entailed, but he could say that it had been a long time since he'd honestly imagined ever seeing the man alive again.

"He tried to kill me," Glenn said.

By now they were coming up on the vehicle that they'd left parked by the side of the road. To clear his head, Daryl ducked out of the hold he had on Glenn, leaving the man with Rick and stepped forward to clear out the three or four Walkers that were looming around their car with some curiosity.

Without another word, Daryl turned around and helped Rick get Glenn into the car. Maggie, still guarding her silence, got into the backseat and allowed Glenn to loll over onto her, finally accepting some sort of unconscious state. Daryl looked at them a moment, hoping that Alice would be able to help Glenn if he'd suffered more serious injury than that which was present to the naked eye, and then backed up, closing the car door.

"Let's go," Rick said softly.

Daryl shook his head, though Rick couldn't see him in the darkness. He didn't know how much time had passed…it had been a good bit…but it hadn't been enough to bring the dawn on them yet.

"Take 'em back ta the prison," Daryl said. "I'm goin' back."

"Are you crazy?" Rick spat. "Are you seriously willing to risk your life over someone that we don't even know?"

Daryl regarded his friend, so much changed for the moment and not for the better. He shook his head a little and hoped that somewhere…somehow…Rick found himself again in all this madness.

"I ain't just leavin' her behind," Daryl said. "She ain't had ta leave the prison ta help us, but she did. Ain't right ta just leave her."

Daryl let his voice trail off while Rick was beginning to swipe somewhat nervously at his face.

"And Rick…if Merle's in there…well…he's my brother. I can't just leave him," Daryl said.

He hadn't thought this whole thing through carefully. He hadn't had time to think it through. He still wasn't even positive that Merle really was inside the place.

"What if he's not in there?" Rick asked.

Daryl didn't reply because he didn't have a response.

"Or what if he is? He's not the same…hell…maybe he is the same. What if he really did try to kill Glenn?" Rick asked. "You saw what he looks like…do you think you're going to bring Merle back to the prison? You think he's just going to sit down and play nice with Glenn after he tried to kill him?"

Daryl shook his head, still not sure how to respond.

Merle could be an out and out asshole, and Daryl was pretty sure that if he had tried to kill Glenn…and Daryl couldn't doubt entirely that his brother was capable of such a thing, especially not knowing what he might have been through since he was left on the roof in Atlanta…that bringing him back to the prison might cause some kind of a riot unless he was able to really talk to the Korean boy first.

Still, blood was blood and Merle was all he'd had before this shit started. Merle was the one who got him as far as the camp outside Atlanta. Merle was his brother and Daryl couldn't just leave him behind and turn his back on him.

Daryl was still trying to figure out what to do, keeping his eyes out for Walkers and watching as Rick waited for some response, when he heard the sound of a stick snapping behind him and turned as quickly as he could, yanking his crossbow off his back and holding it pointed in the direction of the sound.

The tip of his arrow wasn't more than a few inches away from the eye of the woman. Michonne barely flinched though. She held her hands up slightly and Daryl dropped the bow.

"Thanks," she said. "For waiting on me."

"Was just about ta come for ya," Daryl said.

Michonne nodded slightly.

"I'm sure you were," she said. "Did you get them?"

"They're in the car," Rick said. "Get in and let's get back."

Daryl looked at the woman, noticing that he could see her better, and Rick better too. The sun was going to rise on them after all.

"Was there a man in there…my brother…Merle Dixon?" Daryl asked.

Michonne looked at him.

"Your brother?" She growled. "Merle is your brother?"

That confirmed it. Merle was inside, and apparently he was a popular soul in this little metropolis.

"Daryl, we need to go," Rick said.

"He's right," Michonne said, seeming to have forgotten the fact that they were discussing Merle, or either deciding to ignore it. "We're losing time and they'll be able to spot us in the light…there will be more people."

Michonne moved quickly and got into the car, sliding into the back with Maggie and Glenn. Rick stayed where he was for a second, leaning against the fender of the vehicle.

"You coming?" Rick asked, his voice low and clear.

"What about Merle?" Daryl asked, just as much to himself as to Rick.

"We need to go, Daryl," Rick said with a heavy sigh. "Glenn needs help…Maggie probably too…the woman's injured…"

Rick's voice broke off for a minute and Daryl watched as the man squeezed the spot between his eyes again. He sighed.

"What about Carol?" Rick asked. "You don't even know if she's OK…Don't you want to know if she's OK?"

Daryl felt torn. He wanted to go back to the prison. He wanted to go back and find that Alice had fixed the problem. He wanted to find out that Carol was fine…that everything there was fine. He didn't know what he felt about the situation, and he didn't know what was going to happen there, but he wanted the chance to figure it out. He wanted to talk to Carol…

But he hated the idea of leaving Merle behind yet again. He'd never fully forgiven himself for not looking for him harder after they'd left Atlanta. He'd always felt, at least a little, that he'd let his brother down. Now, if he left him behind, he might be letting him down again.

"What about Merle?" Daryl repeated.

Rick sighed audibly again.

"Look, Daryl," Rick said. "If Merle's in there…if he's…working…for this man…he's not going anywhere. Let's get them back to the prison. Let's take care of things there…make sure everything's alright. If you still want to come back for Merle, I'll come back with you myself. Let's just make sure that everyone's alright first…before we go trying to get ourselves killed for _Merle._"

Daryl bit at his lip. He wasn't inclined to agree with Rick much right now, but he thought that maybe Rick had a point. It seemed that Merle had found a niche for himself, of sorts, and he wasn't likely to be going anywhere. He may not even care that Daryl was out there…he may never have even tried to find him.

And Daryl needed to check on Carol. Maybe if she was alright…maybe if he could talk to her…she could help him figure out what to do. She could help him figure out how to talk to Glenn…how to straighten things out. Maybe she could help him figure out what to do about Merle.

Daryl sighed and started to the car. At his movement, Rick also moved and quickly went around to take the driver's seat.

As they headed back to the prison, Daryl glanced only once in the rearview mirror, back toward the town where his brother was staying…He didn't know what was going to happen, but he knew it wasn't the last time that he'd go to Woodbury.


	35. Chapter 35

**AN: Here's a little something for you to advance the story. I might get something else out tomorrow night, but I can't guarantee that. I have a whole lot going on this weekend, so I won't be updating until maybe Sunday or Monday, but I'll update when I can. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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When the group arrived back to the prison, they called for Alice and Hershel as soon as they bounded through the prison doors. Both appeared from different directions and Hershel silently ushered Maggie to sit in one of the chairs in the recreational room turned dining room that they had established while Alice disappeared and came back carrying a tattered cardboard box of medical supplies.

She went directly to Glenn, neither she nor Hershel speaking for the moment as they assessed the situation.

Daryl leaned against the doorframe of the room a moment, his arms crossed tight across his chest. What he really wanted to do was find out from Alice about Carol, but he knew this wasn't the moment to press for details when his asshole brother was responsible for the damage being surveyed at the moment.

Michonne stalked around the dining room a bit and Daryl watched her out the corner of his eye, without turning his head. Rick had dismissed himself without explanation, and Daryl could only hope that his disappearance was related to some concern with either of the children he'd engendered and not some kind of relapse into the land of the lost that he'd been inhabiting for days.

"What the fuck happened here?" Alice asked finally, cleaning Glenn's face which had suffered far more extensive injuries than those that Maggie was talking quietly about with Hershel who was checking her over with some tenderness.

"Merle Dixon," Glenn spat.

"Our old pal," Michonne offered. "Stumpy."

Alice glanced momentarily in Michonne's direction.

"Why did you go with him?" Alice asked, leaning in to Glenn's face to get a better look at what she was doing.

Daryl heard the bitterness in the Korean boy's voice and couldn't deny him any of it. He really couldn't blame the boy if he was pissed at him too, simply for being related to Merle. Daryl wasn't sure what to do, though, so he continued to linger there, pretending to be invisible to the scene in front of him.

"We didn't have a choice," Glenn responded. "He was threatening to cut Maggie's throat. Wanted to know where Daryl was and then wanted to know more about where we were. I didn't tell him anything except for the fact that Daryl's alive."

Alice shot a look at Daryl, expecting some kind of explanation…that was obvious. Daryl didn't know what to say, though, so he just looked back at her, letting her know that he wasn't backing away from her question, he just didn't know what to say.

"Why does he know about you?" Alice asked.

"Merle is Daryl's brother," Glenn offered. "We lost him outside Atlanta."

"That's how he lost his hand," Daryl said somewhat quietly. He'd gotten caught up a little on the status of his brother and it made his stomach churn.

Deep down he felt the same feelings he'd had as a kid…the feelings that always seemed to be there but he never quite knew what to do with them. Merle was his brother, and that would always be that. There'd always been an internal conflict over not wanting to defend someone because you thought they were wrong…you thought so many things about them were wrong…but feeling like you had to defend them because blood was blood. Daryl was no stranger to the conflict.

"Captain Hook is your brother?" Alice asked. She glanced at Michonne and then at Glenn, searching for something and Daryl felt his stomach clench again at the look on her face. It was almost a look of betrayal or something akin to it and he didn't know what to do with it.

After a second, Alice sighed and turned her attention back to Glenn. Michonne settled, sitting on the edge of the table not far from where Alice was cleaning Glenn's wounds.

Maggie, dismissed by Hershel, disappeared without speaking to anyone and Hershel cast a glance at Daryl, though Daryl didn't know what to read out of the old man's facial expression.

"Do you need any help?" Hershel asked Alice.

"I've got it," she said. "It isn't going to pretty for a few days, but it doesn't look like anything here is too lasting."

Hershel nodded his head slightly.

"I'm going to talk to her…in private," Hershel offered.

"You do that," Alice responded.

Hershel left the room without another word. Daryl shifted his weight, still wishing to become invisible and without anything that he felt confident in saying about the situation.

Alice glanced toward him again, her face full of something different now. She furrowed her brows slightly.

"Carol's awake," she said. "You should go and talk to her. She's in and out of dopiness because of the pain meds I gave her, but she's pretty much there. I think we're out of the woods…or at least almost."

Daryl nodded his head slightly at the woman. He wanted to say thank you to her for helping Carol. He wanted to explain that he wasn't like his brother if that's what she was thinking. He wanted to explain that he wasn't even sure he knew what his brother was like anymore…Merle had never been a saint, and the world they were living in changes people, but he didn't say any of that.

Glenn's presence, and the knowledge that he would not be over what happened so quickly deterred him, as did the dark glare of the woman leaning on the edge of the table.

So Daryl settled for a nod and in silence turned and made his way toward the cell, hoping Carol might want to talk to him…hoping she might understand and be able to help him put into words that made sense everything that he was feeling.

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Carol didn't have too much of an option to go anywhere. Alice had commanded that she "stay down" until given permission to get up since she got dizzy earlier when they'd decided to try a short walk around.

Carol wasn't minding the staying down…at least not when Alice was in the cell with her and they were simply lounging around and talking about anything that came to their minds, especially if it had nothing to do at all with the world around them.

But then the group had apparently returned and people had been calling for Alice and Hershel. As expected, Alice had rushed out the cell, but now Carol was alone in there and she didn't know what was going on or if everyone was back or not…or how bad whatever the problem was that they needed their "medical team" for.

Carol had almost worked herself into a tizzy when Daryl appeared at the cell door, pushing back the curtain she'd made. At first his face looked sunken and solemn, but his expression lightened a little as his eyes made contact with her. She almost got to her feet out of the joy of knowing that he wasn't one of the injured, but she stayed seated for fear of losing her footing and freaking him out or something.

"You're OK," Carol said, smiling.

Daryl chuckled a little and bit at his thumb.

"Me? Hell…" he said. "You're OK."

"I'm great," Carol said.

It might have been a little stretch of the truth. She wasn't exactly great, but she'd been a lot worse in her life than she was right this minute. She ached and the stitches in the two cuts she had pulled, but Alice had given her some pain medicine that made her feel oddly happy and better about nearly any situation she thought over.

Daryl came in awkwardly, almost like he didn't know what to do, so Carol took a chance and patted the bed beside her.

"Where were you?" Carol asked. "What happened?"

She searched Daryl's face for answers, and she could see some darkness there, so she started to feel her heart pound a little, trying to prepare her for whatever he might have to tell her.

Daryl sighed heavily.

"Everyone's fine…" Daryl said. "Well, they alive."

Carol was confused. Alice had been vague at best about the whole situation, stating that Daryl had gone out with others to take care of things but refusing to elaborate any more than that.

"What happened?" Carol asked again.

Daryl came and sat finally next to her on the bed, his arms hung over his knees. He sighed again.

"There's this lil' town not far from here," Daryl said. "Did Alice tell ya 'bout it?"

Carol wrinkled her brow and shook her head at Daryl. Alice hadn't told her much of anything that was of any use to her or of any relevance to their current life.

"Well, it's where the fuck she ended up when she got lost," Daryl said.

Carol nodded a little.

"A town?" She asked, seeking clarification.

"Sorta like what we got," Daryl explained, "'cept instead of a prison they got 'em a town walled off. Well…Merle's there."

Carol felt her breath catch in her throat and she wasn't sure why. They'd all thought Merle was dead. Daryl had thought Merle was dead. They'd gone back to look for him on the rooftop and he'd cut his hand off and left, but he'd left in Atlanta…and that wasn't a good place to be stuck at if you were alone…and not even if you were a whole person not suffering from blood loss. They'd sort of just assumed that Daryl's brother would never be heard from again.

And aside from the fact that Carol knew that the loss of his brother affected Daryl, she couldn't say she'd personally be sorry never to see Merle again. He'd been a rough spoken, rude, surly individual. He'd picked fights with people simply to do it and at least twice he'd riled Ed up enough that she'd paid for it later over stupid things.

She couldn't say her heart ached for Merle. She also knew that Daryl wasn't under any impression that his brother had been a saint. He'd made that clear to her on far more than one or two occasions.

"Place is run by this guy calls himself the Mayor or the Governor, or some shit like that," Daryl continued. "'Parently Merle's his guy. So…well…Merle tried ta kill Alice…tried ta kill Michonne…"

"Who?" Carol asked, interrupting him.

"She come with Alice," Daryl responded.

Carol shook her head. Alice had failed to mention this, but then again she'd simply failed to mention everything that had happened since the day everything had gone crazy around here. Carol would dig at her for information later given the fact that she was getting the basics from Daryl and Alice wouldn't have any excuse to hide things from her then.

"Why did he try to kill them?" Carol asked.

Daryl shrugged.

"Reckon 'cause this guy told him too…I mean who wouldn't wanna kill Alice once in a while," Daryl responded.

Carol chuckled in spite of herself and Daryl responded by smiling at his own joke. After a second his face resumed the gravity from before.

"Merle took Glenn an' Maggie," Daryl said. "That's where we went…ta get 'em back. Beat the shit outta Glenn an' Maggie ain't had no shirt when we found her but she don't look all beat up nor nothin'."

Carol frowned. She didn't know why this man…this mayor…this governor…the president…whoever he was, wanted to do anything to any of them. They hadn't done anything to anyone, or at least she didn't think they had.

"Are they OK?" Carol asked.

Daryl nodded and bit at his thumb.

"Ain't the problem," Daryl responded.

Carol looked at him, waiting for him to tell her what was bothering him because it was evident in his face that something was bothering him and he was there looking for something from her, even if she didn't know what he was searching for at the moment.

"What is it, Daryl?" Carol asked finally. She figured it had to do with Merle, but she really wasn't sure where Daryl's brain might be on the subject at the moment.

"He's my brother," Daryl said. "I can't just leave him there…an' Glenn told him I was alive but he ain't told him where we are."

Carol nodded her head and waited for him to continue.

"Don't know what ta do," Daryl said. "But I can't just leave him like he ain't my brother."

Carol understood what Daryl was going through now. He had come to a crossroads of sort in his life. On the one hand he was facing something from his past…he was facing some part of himself that perhaps he'd thought had died right along with Merle.

Daryl was trying to decide if he should go back to Merle, perhaps…which essentially meant going back to the man that he'd been when this whole thing had started.

Granted, Daryl Dixon wasn't an entirely different man from the man that she'd met outside of Atlanta when this whole thing had begun, but he was a good deal different. She didn't think that he had some kind of change of heart along the way or that he'd changed who he was deep down…rather she'd always thought of it as an influence kind of thing. He wasn't under Merle's thumb any longer, and he'd been able to step out and become more of himself…more of who he'd always been deep down. She thought she understood the feeling. She thought that she had, to some degree, done the same thing when she was able to put Ed in her past.

And now Daryl was face to face as to whether or not he should allow Merle back into his life.

Carol could tell him that if she had the choice of whether or not to ever go back under Ed, she'd never in a million years do it. She could tell him that she'd tell Ed to go to hell the moment she saw him…if he ever figured out how to get out of hell, that was.

But she couldn't tell Daryl not to go back to Merle. She couldn't tell him to turn his head and forget that his brother was alive, and apparently close by, because she knew what family meant to Daryl and she knew that he had a code by which he lived his life. His brother was his family…his world…and that was the most important thing to Daryl.

So Carol couldn't tell him to turn his back on his convictions, not when she respected him for being a man that had always held through his convictions with anything in the group.

"What do you want me to say, Daryl?" Carol asked. "What are you asking?"

Daryl glanced down.

"I can't leave him," he repeated.

Carol reached over and put her hand on Daryl's arm, half expecting him to flinch away from it. She wouldn't have been surprised if just the mention of Merle sent Daryl somewhat back into his withdrawn state. He didn't flinch, though, he simply turned his head and looked at her, his face pained, chewing on his lip.

Carol smiled softly at him and shook her head, squeezing his hand.

"Then don't, Daryl," Carol said. "You've got to do what you need to do…and if that means that you have to go and find Merle…" Carol paused, letting her voice break off. She didn't want to tell him to go and find Merle. She didn't know what that might mean. It might mean that Daryl left the group. It might mean that Daryl left her. Still, she wasn't going to tell him to be untrue to what he felt was right and what he felt he had to do. "Then you go, and you find Merle." She finished.

Daryl stared hard at her for a moment and then nodded his head ever so slightly.

"Ya reckon everyone's gonna be OK with me bringin' him back here?" Daryl asked.

Carol was struck. She hadn't really thought about the fact of Merle Dixon coming into their little group. She hadn't thought about what that might be like, and now it seemed like it would be even more complicated than it would have been before, if they'd found him back in Atlanta.

"We could talk to them, Daryl," Carol offered, seeing that it was important to the man to bring his brother back here.

Carol hoped that everyone could be willing to give Merle a chance. Not for Merle's sake…honestly she couldn't have cared less for the man if she'd tried. It was for Daryl's sake that she hoped that everyone could try to play nice with Merle…or at least figure out what to do with him or how to coexist.

"He tried ta kill 'em, Carol," Daryl said. "He beat Glenn an' I don't even fuckin' know what he done ta Maggie."

Carol could see so much pain in Daryl's face that it made her voice ache. He was torn up about this and he wasn't trying too hard to hide it from her. He was sorry for what his brother had done…he didn't approve of what his brother had done…but Merle was still his brother and he still loved him, no matter what.

Carol reached over, tentatively, and stroked his cheek. He didn't flinch from the touch either. He brought his hand up and took hers in his and sat there for a moment, running his thumb over the back of her hand, not saying anything.

Carol cleared her throat, still raw from the whole ordeal.

"I'm sure they can work something out," she said. She didn't know if she really believed it, but she wanted to believe it. "This is something you feel like you need to do, though, so you should do it. Be true to what you believe in."

Carol looked down, at Daryl's lap, and tried not to let him see her facial expression, afraid that it would give away all the conflicted feelings she was having about the whole situation.

Daryl surprised her then by reaching over and catching her under the chin, lifting her face up and looking at her like he was trying to see into her eyes. It was so intense for the moment that she almost wanted to close her eyes to hide everything from him. He leaned in and he kissed her…and she kissed him back…a much longer kiss than any they'd shared before.

When he pulled away, Daryl looked at her again.

"I'm glad ya OK," Daryl said.

Carol smiled softly, still afraid that her face might betray her.

"I'm glad you came back," Carol said.

Daryl nodded slightly, his face twisting a little, and Carol was sure that she read there his uncertainty about the whole situation. If things didn't work out with Merle…he might not be back for good. Daryl was going to go after his brother…he was going after his family and what was important to him…and anything he felt for her, if there was anything there at all, would never be able to compare enough with what he felt about his brother to keep him there if Merle wasn't welcomed by the others.


	36. Chapter 36

**AN: This is probably it for me for a few days, but I wanted to get another little chapter out to advance the story and do some character/plot development.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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"Look, I'm just sayin' he's liable ta come lookin' for me too, an' it might not be a real good thing if he brings this fella with him," Daryl explained.

They'd gathered everyone together, and Carol was finally feeling strong enough to come out and join everyone, in order to discuss the situation about Merle.

Carol sat in one of the chairs they'd pulled into the circle around one of the tables in the dining area and held Rick's daughter, whom Carl had named Judith, while the tiny infant slept.

Daryl had presented his argument well, or so Carol thought, but people were reluctant. He'd presented the fact that Merle was his brother and he couldn't leave him in this town with this man that several of them thought was crazy. He'd presented that Merle was never a high ranking saint or anything of the like, but that his involvement with the man could likely be explained like many of the things they'd all done since this insanity descended upon them. You do what you must to survive, and Merle, though an asshole, had probably not had the easiest time of things since losing his hand.

Daryl had also just presented a very good fact. Merle knew he was alive, and Merle's feelings were much like Daryl's on family. That meant that Merle wasn't likely to feel satisfied knowing that Daryl was in the area and not going in search of his younger brother. If Daryl went back to Woodbury, with some people for backup, to get Merle, then they stood a better chance of getting him out of the town and avoiding conflict and contact with the crazy Governor individual for whom he was working. If, however, Daryl tried to ignore the fact that his brother was there and didn't go back, they stood the chance that Merle come looking for him and that he alert the Governor of their presence, assuming he didn't already know about it.

"He tried to kill me with a Walker," Glenn said.

Carol glanced in Glenn's direction. She was torn because she understood so many sides of this argument and she couldn't say that any one side had reason over the other. Merle wasn't a good man and he probably wouldn't be good for the group. He was responsible, she'd learned, for trying to gut Alice, for shooting Michonne, Alice's new companion, for beating and attempting to kill Glenn, and for taking Maggie to the place where she'd had some one on one contact with the Governor that she wished not to really delve into with the group.

Bringing Merle back didn't sound like a great idea.

On the other hand, he was Daryl's brother and in this world if you had anyone left, you wanted to hold onto them.

"I ain't sayin' he ain't done wrong," Daryl argued.

Carol could tell that Daryl was getting frustrated. He did his best to present himself as a man who had no emotions, but she didn't believe it for a minute and tonight it was more and more evident that Daryl truly was an emotional man and that his brother was one of the souls capable of stirring up said emotions.

"What if we offered him a trial basis?" Carol offered, looking around for anyone who might be willing to give her some support on the matter.

Rick cleared his throat and pinched at the bridge of his nose.

"What kind of trial?" Rick asked. He shook his head at her. "We bring him back here and then what? We lock him up? We let him go free around the prison? How long does the trial last and what do we do if he fails it?"

Rick looked in Daryl's direction and Daryl bit at his thumb. Carol was afraid that he was going to lose his cool before too long and that wasn't what they needed either. The situation was a touchy one and the air was tense enough without having Daryl lose it with everyone too.

"I don't care what kinda fuckin' hoops y'all want his ass ta jump through," Daryl said. "He'll jump through 'em…"

"And if he doesn't?" Michonne asked. "He shot me. He would have killed me," she put her hand on Alice's shoulder who was sitting next to her. "He would have killed us both."

Alice nodded and Glenn sighed.

"He would have killed Maggie and me too," Glenn said. "What if he doesn't play nice when he gets here? We bring him back here to finish the job?"

"Fine," Daryl said. "I'll go get him myself. We done fine on our own 'fore all this shit, we'll do fine now. I ain't leavin' him, though."

Carol felt her heart leap into her throat and she didn't think she could say anything. She was looking desperately at everyone, hoping they could see that they had to stop Daryl. They couldn't let him go off half cocked to this place and disappear with Merle.

"Let's just talk about this shit," Alice said after a second, her eyes having fallen on Carol. She shook her head. "So we bring him back here…let's go with that. What the fuck do we do with him?"

"You want him here?" Michonne asked sharply.

Alice shrugged.

"Fuck! I don't know! I'm just playing the devil's advocate here. Let's say he comes here and he's not a dick about it…we could use more people," Alice said.

"And if he decides to try to finish what he started?" Maggie asked, a little bitterness in her voice.

"Don't jump my ass," Alice snapped at her. "If he's a dick then we run his ass out…I don't know. Fucking forget it. Do whatever the hell you want."

Rick sighed audibly.

"Would everyone be alright with a trial period?" Rick asked. "We bring him back…strip him of weapons…maybe keep him in the holding cell?"

Daryl chuckled a little.

"Ya can't fuckin' cage him up like a dog…" Daryl said.

"Sounds reasonable," Alice argued. "Until we know if he's rabid or not we put his ass somewhere and watch him."

Daryl sighed and Carol held back from reaching over and touching him, not wanting to do anything that was going to make him anymore stressed out over the situation than he already was.

"It might be the only way," Carol offered softly. "Maybe not the holding cell…or maybe not constantly…but something of a trial until everyone feels more comfortable."

There were some that were simply neutral. Hershel's concerns were his family, of course. He didn't want Merle coming back here if that meant that he might do something to harm anyone that he cared about, but beyond that the old man had few concerns about the eldest Dixon brother, especially since he'd never met him.

Carl and Beth were essentially children, and although they were both allowed to join in the discussion, there really wasn't anything that either of them could contribute anymore than Judith could at the moment.

Rick nodded his head at Carol finally.

"Anyone opposed to Merle coming back here?" Rick asked.

Michonne, Glenn, and Maggie all three raised their hands and the action illicited a sigh from Rick who was keeping his eye on Daryl for the most part to make sure that the man didn't leave the room until they'd actually decided on a course of action.

"Even with a trial?" Rick asked.

"I guess I could be fine with a trial," Glenn said. Maggie didn't respond, but everyone pretty much took whatever Glenn said to go for Maggie and vice versa. They'd become thought of more as a Greek chorus than as individuals given their tendency to always agree with one another.

"Does it matter?" Michonne said, her voice low.

Rick glanced at Alice, but Carol saw the woman shrug. She wasn't going to protest this, though Carol wasn't entirely sure why unless it just had to do with keeping Daryl from trotting off to go and be alone with Merle in the world out there.

Rick nodded.

"Fine…tomorrow night, then, Daryl. We'll go back to Woodbury to get Merle," Rick said.

"Alone?" Carol asked suddenly. "Is it dangerous?"

Daryl glanced in Michonne's direction.

"I'm not going back to Woodbury," Michonne said. "There's nothing there for me."

"I'll go," Alice offered.

"You're still injured," Hershel spoke up.

Alice shrugged.

"So I won't do any of the heavy ass lifting. I'll go to keep an eye out or whatever," Alice said.

"Then I guess that's settled," Rick said. "The three of us will go."

Michonne sighed loudly.

"Fine," she said, her voice cold. "I'll go, but I'm not going in to get Merle. I'll go in to be your backup if you need me, but I want it to be known that I'm not doing this for him."

"Duly noted," Rick said, nodding his head at her.

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Daryl had been distracted after conversation about Merle. He'd gone out to check the parameters and he'd take a part of a watch, so Carol had left him alone to give him time to deal with whatever demons it was that were plaguing him. She knew now, at least, that he would come and talk to her when he felt that he had enough control over them to talk about them, and she wasn't going to push him until he'd reached that point.

When Daryl did come to her cell, though, he hadn't come to talk. She hadn't really been sure what he'd come for. She'd stayed up, lying in bed with the lamp on and reading over a book that she had, and waited in case he did need her.

Daryl had come quietly to the cell. He'd slipped in and without saying anything at all to her he'd stood there a moment, hovering close to her. She looked at him, but she didn't speak, waiting for him to break the silence or somehow hint at what he might be thinking.

Finally, Daryl started silently undressing. Carol didn't say anything. She just watched him as she stripped out of his clothes and piled them in the corner of the cell.

He stood in front of her, in his boxers, and nibbled at his cuticle.

"This alright?" He asked, keeping his voice low.

Carol smiled softly at him and patted the bed behind her. Daryl crawled onto the bed and slid under the covers between her and the wall, his arm looping around her in the manner that he'd learned, it seemed, to enjoy.

Carol sighed a little, hoping he didn't notice it. She wasn't sure what he wanted or what he was expecting, and he was silent.

"Do you want to talk?" Carol asked.

"No," Daryl grunted.

Carol sighed again.

"Do you want me to blow out the lamp?" She asked, closing the book and sliding it onto the table.

Daryl grunted in the affirmative and Carol blew out the lamp, sliding down into place in the bed, Daryl's arm wrapping a little tighter around her and pulling her against him.

Carol had no idea, not really, what was happening between her and Daryl. She knew that she loved him, but she wasn't sure how he felt about her. She would have been fine with everyone openly knowing about them…knowing that before all this had happened they'd been having sex and now Daryl was sleeping in her cell…but she didn't know how he felt about it. She didn't even know if and when they'd resume having sex. She honestly felt like she had no idea what any of it was about.

In some ways it felt like they'd take some steps forward, but in others it felt like they'd taken some steps backward, and she had no idea how throwing Merle into the mix was going to shake up the dance.

Still, there would be time, once Merle was here and she could see how that affected Daryl, to discuss everything later. For tonight, Daryl was apparently sleeping in her cell, coming especially to spoon her, and she'd take what she could get.

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Carol strolled slowly through the yard the next day, making her way behind Alice around the fences, both of them stabbing Walkers through the fence without any great show of enthusiasm.

"So why are you going tonight?" Carol asked, satisfied that they were out of earshot of the group.

"What?" Alice asked.

"Why are you going tonight?" Carol repeated. She knew that Alice didn't know Merle as more than the man that tried to kill her, so it would be difficult to believe she had any affection for the man.

Alice shrugged a little, gagging slightly at a particularly putrid Walker whose skull she sunk her knife into. Carol covered her own mouth with her hand, the smell overwhelming her for a second as well.

"Jesus, these are some nasty fuckers, aren't they?" Alice said, slinging her knife and moving farther down the fence to escape the lingering odor. Carol followed behind her.

"You're avoiding answering my question…" Carol said.

"Really?" Alice responded. "I'm going so Michonne would go. They might need her to show them how to get there…how to get in. Believe me, I'm not going because I believe I'm any great asset to their cause."

"You're not completely useless either, you know," Carol said. "You survived on your own for a while…a lot of us can't say that."

"Pure dumb luck can happen to anyone," Alice said. She stopped stabbing and turned to face Carol. "Don't every let yourself think that the reason you made it this far is because you're the shit…even if it's true."

Carol nodded. She understood what Alice was saying. Though confidence was a good thing, over confidence was often deadly. It had always been truth, but now it was, perhaps, more truth than before.

"What about Michonne?" Carol asked.

"What about her?" Alice asked, returning to the Walkers that seemed to be a pretty much never ending supply.

"Is there something going on there?" Carol asked, raising her voice to reflect her interest in the subject. Honestly, she would be happy for Alice if there were. They didn't have a lot in this world…so even a somewhat surly samurai was better than nothing. Carol did know they were sharing a cell.

Alice shook her head and chuckled.

"Nothing like that," Alice said.

Carol reached out and pushed the woman in front of her between the shoulder blades for echoing the line she must have said to her a thousand times.

Alice stopped and turned around, a half smile on her face.

"What?" Alice said. "I'm serious…I don't really even know her. She was at Woodbury when I got there. I heard she wasn't comfortable with the place…or overheard it really. She and her girlfriend had some public fucking breakup in the street…they were letting Michonne leave but the girlfriend wasn't leaving because she'd hopped all over this Governor guy's dick…so they got in a fight. I got sucked in out of pure damn interest because you don't see a lot of public dyke drama. Then I thought I'd get the hell out of there while they were letting people go, and I split as a last minute decision."

"So you didn't decide to go together before?" Carol asked.

Alice shook her head.

"No…not really. I followed her. Told her I was sorry about her girlfriend, tagged along. She'd have probably told me to go to hell but then Daryl's brother tried to fucking kill us…and well united we stand, divided we fall. That's pretty much all the hell there is to it. Now she's just a friend…or she's somebody who needs a friend," Alice said.

"So you're her friend?" Carol asked.

"Are you _jealous?_" Alice teased.

Carol chuckled.

"Maybe I am!" She responded. "I'm trying to find out if I've been replaced."

Alice chuckled then and turned full to face Carol, reaching an arm around and playfully pulling Carol toward her.

"No…you first friend," Alice said, faking an accent at her…a very bad one.

Alice straightened up then.

"You're first friend and that's what you'll be…" Alice said. "Especially now, though, no one is so rich as to throw away a friend, and that's certainly the truth for me. Michonne doesn't have anybody…and I don't have anybody…we might as we be fucking nobodies together."

Carol sighed.

"But she's a lesbian, though?" Carol asked, realizing that there might not be anything there at the moment but there was the possibility.

Alice shrugged and went back to the Walkers.

"She's a woman, isn't she?" Alice responded.

"So you're one of those?" Carol asked.

"One of what?" Alice responded.

"You believe every woman is secretly a lesbian?" Carol asked.

Alice laughed.

"Yes…and no," Alice said. "I believe in the continuum."

"And?" Carol asked.

Alice stopped again, turning back and putting her hands on her hips.

"OK…if you take being a lesbian back to where it comes from…back to what it means…back to the Island of Lesbos and our Lesbo ladies…our Sapphic sisters, if you will…or even the Amazons…being a lesbian isn't about eating snatch. It's about the sisterhood of women. The continuum states that every woman, therefore, belongs on it somewhere. There's just no black and white. If you've ever had a significant relationship with another woman…you're on the continuum. That goes from mothers and daughters all the way to your bonafide dykes. As the theory states, the community of women doesn't necessarily rule men out of our lives, but it's the relationships we have with women that make life more bearable," Alice explained. "So…yeah…I think every woman's a lesbian. I just don't necessarily think that every woman falls at the far end of the continuum."

Carol nodded a little.

"I guess that's fair enough," she said.

"So yeah…" Alice said. "Michonne's held a few different spots on the continuum…I'm sure of that. She certainly got a little worked over by her ex…the bitterness is strong in that one. It was probably a first love. That shit stings the worst."

"Voice of experience?" Carol asked.

Alice chuckled again.

"And how…lost mine…got her back…lost her again..." Alice said. "First loves are slippery as fuck."

Carol smiled and nodded, turning her attention, first this time, to the Walkers at the fence.

She thought she could relate. She was beginning, more and more, to believe that Daryl was her first love…she was realizing that she never loved Ed. She never felt about him the way that she felt about Daryl. And now that she was worried about what would happen with Merle…now that she was worried that her love for Daryl would be unrequited at best and lost completely at worst…she could understand the pain that someone might go through when they lost their first love…and even if they felt like they just couldn't seem to get a hold on them or keep whatever hold they got.

Seeing her turn back to the Walkers, Alice redirected her attention as well and they continued on in silence, both of them probably thinking about their own situations, but both fine with being in the company of the other while they shared their contemplation and passed the day killing Walkers that no longer shared the concerns of the living.

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**AN: The continuum that Alice talks about comes from the sociological and psychological studies of Smith-Rosenberg and later Rich, though Alice simplifies them greatly and paraphrases the ideas. I thought I should drop this in here to let everyone know, though, that these are not my original thoughts, nor are they hers. They are borrowed. **


	37. Chapter 37

**AN: Hi everyone! Here's a little something for you!**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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By the time the four of them arrived, in the dark, to one of the walls surrounding Woodbury, Daryl was already wondering how this thing was going to go down. He knew what they had planned to happen, but there was sometimes a strong difference between plans and what actually happened.

Michonne was going to take Daryl inside the walls since she seemed to be the best at slipping in and out of the shadows. Rick and Alice were going to wait outside, lingering close to the wall, to keep an ear out should anything go down inside that required some kind of backup.

Once they were inside and Michonne had directed Daryl to where he was likely to find his brother, she was going to disappear, suspecting that Merle might not be pleased to see her after he'd failed at killing her in the woods just after she and Alice had split for the town. Daryl would get Merle, get out of Woodbury, and meet up with the others where they waited, just beyond the wall.

That was if the plan went down without a hitch.

As they walked up, though, they realized that the wall they'd chosen wasn't as loosely guarded as Michonne thought it would be. Being one of the least trafficked areas had led her to believe they might find it almost abandoned, as they had the night they'd gotten Glenn and Maggie out, but tonight there were at least three people wandering around the top of the wall.

Daryl hunkered back in the wooded area with the other three so that they were out of sight and probably out of earshot of the guards.

"Now what?" Alice whispered.

"Goin' in," Daryl said. "I ain't leavin' without Merle."

"We can still get in," Michonne offered. "They're not paying attention to us. They're more focused on that area over there…it faces the road. They're worried about Walkers and probably group threats. I doubt they're thinking anyone is going to kidnap Merle."

"We go through with the plan as it is," Daryl said, stopping a moment to watch the three people. He could hear them talking and when they walked around the wall more where they would have been in the line of vision of his small group, he instinctively eased back a little, deeper into the cover of the wooded area.

Alice darted out of the covered area suddenly, though, and Daryl and Rick both went for her. Daryl got to her first, not understanding what the hell she was doing, and dropped her to the ground, lying on top of her.

"The fuck are ya thinkin'?" Daryl growled into her ear as she lie pinned beneath him.

The group on the wall moved back to glance in their direction and Daryl moved his hand to cover Alice's mouth for fear she might speak and alert the people to them if them couldn't see them where they were lying now.

When the group on the wall moved away again, Daryl slid his hand down.

"Ya gonna get us fuckin' killed," he growled quietly, his mouth at Alice's ear. "What the hell's gotten into ya?"

"Mel…" Alice whispered back, not fighting him despite the fact he was still lying on top of her.

"What?" He growled.

"Mel…" Alice whispered again. "That's fucking Mel! On the wall! My partner! Get your redneck ass off of me, I've got to get her…"

Alice's voice squeaked out a little and Daryl put his hand back over her mouth, almost holding his own breath in case they were listening out for them. After a second, Alice began to squirm under him, but he stayed put, confident there wasn't any other way to keep her in check if he didn't.

"Which one?" He asked, sliding his mouth back to her ear. There were two women and a man on the wall and if he was going to figure out how to kidnap one of them he was hoping he got the right fucking one or this was going to be a bigger mess than he wanted to deal with.

"The blonde…" Alice breathed when moved his hand. "The white woman…the wasp…whatever you want to call her."

Daryl slipped his hand back over her mouth and sighed.

"Fine…I'ma getcha fuckin' girlfriend for ya but'cha gotta do this shit my way. Ya stay ya ass put with Rick 'less we need ya for somethin' or else I ain't riskin' my damn neck for ya. Gotta deal?" Daryl growled.

Alice nodded, scrubbing her face against the ground.

"Christ," Daryl growled.

Daryl crawled backwards, trying to stay low to the ground and got off of Alice. She took his lead and crawled back with him to where Rick and Michonne had remained covered and in waiting for whatever was taking place between the two of them.

"What's wrong?" Rick asked when they'd ducked back into the brush.

"Nothin'," Daryl said. "Just gotta pick someone else up is all."

Daryl glanced at Michonne.

"Ya got any damn body in there we gotta get while we here?" Daryl asked.

Michonne shook her head.

"I'm done with every damn person in that place," she responded.

Daryl nodded his head slightly and looked back at Rick.

"Y'all wait here. Don't come in unless ya sure there's trouble," he responded. "We'll be back."

Rick nodded and clapped him on the shoulder as a sign for good luck and then Daryl followed Michonne quietly, farther down the wall, in search of the place where they would enter the town.

When they were inside they moved from place to place, ducking for cover from anyone that might see them. Michonne suspected that they'd find Merle either stuck somewhere up under the Governor, whom Daryl hadn't actually seen yet, or working the wall somewhere. Daryl followed her through the shadows and tried to keep some bearings about him so that when she disappeared and left him to his own devices he'd actually be able to find his way out instead of ending up lost there with his brother.

They didn't have to look too hard to find Merle, though. Daryl heard his brother's voice, followed by his laughter, and the voice of another man. He reached forward and put his hand on the back of the woman who was just in front of him, crouched down as though they were trying to pull of some mastermind crime.

"'At's his voice," Daryl said, his voice barely coming out in the whisper.

Michonne nodded ahead of him and moved on in search of the sounds. When they finally found Merle, standing beside a building, a bottle in his hand, talking to some man that Daryl sure as shit didn't know, Michonne backed up, almost stepping on him and pulled him behind another building.

"The man with him," she said softly, "is another of the Governor's men. I don't know him, but I've seen him. This is where I leave you."

"An' ya headin' back ta the others?" Daryl asked.

"Have some things to do," Michonne said softly. "Don't worry about me. Get your brother…or your people…or whatever and get the hell out of here. If I don't come back, don't worry."

Daryl wanted to protest that he was going to do just that…it wasn't in the plan that the ninja wasn't going to come back. It wasn't in the plan that she might be doing something stupid…and doing it alone. She was supposed to head back and now she was telling him she had things to do? And what? That they should just leave her there, assuming she might even be killed?

Daryl didn't have time to protest, though. She scrambled away, into the cover of darkness around them, so quickly that he believed for a moment that she actually was a ninja as Alice had said. She was there, and then she was gone, and now Daryl couldn't do anything more than try to do what he'd come to do and hope they got the hell out of there and her ninja ass was waiting with Rick and Alice when they did.

Daryl eased around the building again and caught sight of his brother. Merle was drinking and it pissed Daryl off a little. It wasn't that he had anything against drinking…but that wasn't going to make this entire damn thing any easier. Of course, in Merle's defense, he didn't know what was supposed to be going down tonight.

The man that Merle was talking to seemed pretty well sauced. They were going to have to get rid of his ass, though, if this was going to go off without a hitch. Daryl considered his options.

He had his crossbow strapped to his back, but he didn't think he ought to simply kill the man for no reason other than the fact that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, if he made himself visible to the man, and Merle wasn't as happy to see him as he was hoping, there could be trouble.

Daryl sighed to himself and brought his crossbow around, checking to make sure the thing was loaded. He wasn't going to shoot the man in cold blood, but he'd already decided that if necessity dictated that he shoot him, he would.

Daryl slipped then out of the cover that he was holding.

"Merle…" he called, keeping his voice low enough that it wouldn't draw unnecessary attention but loud enough so that his brother could hear him. "Merle…"

Merle turned his head and Daryl realized he must still be somewhat covered by the shadows. He stepped forward a little more.

"Daryl?" Merle said, clearly not sure of what he was hearing or seeing.

"Merle…it's me," Daryl assured him, noticing now that he had the attention of the other man who was very drunk. Daryl stepped forward another step and Merle looked at him like he still didn't trust what he was seeing. Finally Merle smiled, chuckling a little.

"Daryl?" He asked again.

The man that was with Merle stepped forward now.

"Who…" the man started, his speech heavily slurred. "Who…the hell…is this?"

"How the fuck did'ja get her, baby brothah?" Merle asked, stepping forward, an arm outstretched.

Daryl realized then that his brother, instead of the hand that he'd left on a roof in Atlanta, had something akin to a bayonet fastened to his right arm. Daryl looked quickly away from the garish prosthetic and stepped toward his brother, clapping him on the back in the action most akin to a hug that they engaged in.

"We gotta get outta here," Daryl urged, keeping his voice low. "Got people waitin' on us on the other side a' the fence."

The drunk man had stepped beside them now and Daryl wasn't sure that the man even knew if he was dreaming or caught in reality at the moment.

"Where the hell ya wantin' ta go?" Merle questioned.

Daryl eyed the drunk man.

"Ain't got time ta explain," Daryl said. "Ya comin' or not? 'Cause I'm goin' an' if ya don't come I ain't comin' back for ya."

Daryl knew that Merle woudn't take kindly to being bossed around, but he didn't have time to play with his brother right now and he'd heard enough about this town from Alice and Michonne that he had little desire to stay here and even less desire to hobnob with the locals.

Merle looked at him, his eyebrows creasing in the semi darkness. He chuckled slightly.

"Hell…let's go…" Merle said.

"Go where?" The drunk man asked.

Daryl eyed him again and looked back at Merle. He wasn't taking this asshole with them. He didn't know him and all hell would break loose if he brought some stranger from this little hell town back with them.

Daryl didn't know if Merle read his mind or if his brother had his own plans, but before he could say anything, his brother raised the bayoneted arm and drove the blade across the throat of the other man before he could so much as respond. Daryl stood there, a little stunned, as the drunk man's body slumped to the ground.

Merle looked at it a moment, chuckled softly, and then turned to Daryl.

"He was a sorry drunk," Merle said. "Had it comin' a long damn time."

Daryl decided not to say anything else at the moment about the dearly departed unknown drunk. He hoped, though, that the man did have it coming and that his brother hadn't simply come undone in the time since they'd last seen one another.

"Come on," Daryl said softy, starting back through the shadows toward the place where he'd come in with Michonne.

As they neared the wall, he caught sight of the three people on top of the wall that were walking around like soldiers, though they were poor looking soldiers in any case.

"Hey," Daryl said, turning toward Merle. "Ya got any authority 'round here?"

Merle looked at Daryl for a moment.

"Yeah…sorta…what'cha need?" Merle asked.

Daryl gestured in the direction of the wall.

"Need that blonde woman up there," Daryl said. "Can ya get her ta come down here without stirrin' up the other two? Tell her ya gotta talk ta her 'bout somethin' official or some shit like that?"

Merle glanced in the direction of the wall for a moment and then looked back at Daryl. He sucked his teeth and chuckled.

"That how ya get'cha women these days, lil' brothah?" Merle asked.

Daryl sighed.

"Can ya do it?" He asked, deciding not to humor his brother at all.

Merle nodded.

"Yeah…I can do it…wait here," Merle said.

Daryl stayed put and watched as his brother walked out of the shadows and attempted to walk down the street in the most sober form possible, right out in the light of the torches burning there. Daryl couldn't hear clearly what he said, but he walked to the wall and got the attention of the people there, chuckling about something and speaking to them a moment.

The blonde's body movements showed she was a little unsure or uncomfortable of what was being asked of her, but she came down off the wall a few minutes later and followed behind Merle down the street. When they neared where Daryl was standing, Merle slipped into the shadow and tugged the blonde woman with him, covering her mouth with his hand quickly so that she couldn't yelp or call out.

Daryl put his hands up at the terrified looking woman.

"It's OK," he said softly. "We gon' take ya with us. Got Alice waitin' for ya outside the fence. She sent me ta get'cha."

The woman looked terrified still, but at the mention of Alice's name, something changed in her eyes.

"Ya can't make no noise, though, or they gon' kill all a' us," Daryl whispered. "Can ya keep quiet for us?"

The blonde nodded, her eyes still filled with uncertainty, and Merle moved his hand. She didn't make any noise, as she'd promised, and Daryl quickly guided them to the place he'd come in with Michonne at. They both followed him out of the small town and under the cover of darkness they stumbled their way back to where Alice and Rick were crouched and waiting in such good camouflage that Daryl nearly fell over them.

"Mel?" Alice whispered, her voice squeaking a little as they approached.

"Alice?" Melodye hissed back.

Daryl wasn't expecting the blonde to leap forward and throw herself on Alice, but she did and they both tumbled backward into the brush. Daryl averted his eyes from their greeting and checked the status of the two remaining people on the wall, knowing that they'd have to go soon or the people up there might begin to question what had happened to their third.

"What we got here?" Merle asked in a low voice. Daryl glanced at him and saw him watching the two women who were alternating between kissing each other and apparently testing to see if the other was actually physically real. Daryl kicked Alice in the thigh.

"Knock that shit off, we gotta get outta here," he hissed.

"Where's Michonne?" Alice asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"Said not ta wait on her. Said she had some shit ta take care of," Daryl said. "We gotta go."

Alice got to her feet then and Daryl saw that Merle was slowly starting to realize that it was Rick and Alice that were there and he recognized them both, though probably for different reasons.

"Officer friendly…" Merle growled. "An' you…" he turned his attention to Alice. "You an' ya damn Nubian queen s'posed ta be dead!"

Daryl put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Simmer down," he hissed. "We ain't got time for none a' this shit. We gotta get the fuck outta here an' back ta the vehicles. All of ya keep it in ya damn pants 'til we do."

Daryl started pushing the crowd forward, deeper into the wooded area and toward the vehicles.

"We can't leave Michonne!" Alice hissed as they walked, her arm around the blonde they'd just stolen from the town. "They'll kill her!"

"S' what she wanted," Daryl said, not stopping his pushing forward of everyone. "Ain't had no chance ta argue with her. She disappeared."

"Well we have to go back!" Alice protested.

"Ain't goin' back…not no more," Daryl said. "She wanted us ta leave her an' that's what we doin'…"

"He's right, you know?" A voice called from the woods just beyond them. Michonne stepped out, panting a little.

Daryl was shocked to see her there, and she must have suspected it. She smiled at him.

"Got done early…" she said. "Been waiting on you slowpokes to show up."

"How the hell'd ya do that?" Daryl asked.

"Well…" Merle growled. "If it ain't Mee-chonne…ya just won't stay dead, will ya girl?"

Michonne took a defensive stance much different than the one she'd been in seconds before.

"Won't now either," she said. "But you will when I take your head off."

"Everyone calm the fuck down!" Daryl spat suddenly. "Ain't no fuckin' body killin' no damn body else. We goin' back ta the fuckin' prison an' ya all gonna talk like people. We ain't fuckin' animals!"

Merle turned then, chuckling at Daryl.

"Who the fuck are ya, boy? Mary Poppins?" Merle drawled.

"Shut up, Merle!" Daryl responded. "Ya gotta behave ya damn ass or go the hell back ta Woodbury. We ain't actin' like this."

Merle chuckled.

"I can act civilized…" Merle said. "Can you, Midnight?"

Merle made kissing noises at Michonne who already looked like she was more than ready to take the man's head off. Daryl growled. "Asshole," he spat. "That's how the fuck ya lost ya hand…ya wanta lose the other?"

"I'd be happy to be of service," Michonne offered.

Merle chuckled and Daryl shoved him forward toward the vehicles. Merle held up his hands…or rather his hand and bayoneted stump…and walked forward.

"Take it easy," Merle said.

Daryl growled again. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy bringing Merle into the fold. He only hoped that somewhere down deep inside himself his brother could find the ability to play well with others and that they could work everything out amongst themselves without any of it coming to bloodshed or exile.

Daryl knew, though, that it wasn't going to be easy.


	38. Chapter 38

**AN: Ok, here's a little something for you. I wanted to give a little warning that Michonne…this Michonne…may seem a little OOC, especially if we flashback to Season 3 Michonne. However, like with most of the characters, I'm making her my own, so she is what she is…just like the plot, the characters are subject to change.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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To say that the prison was a little off kilter would be an understatement. Daryl, Rick, Michonne, and Alice had left as the sun was going down. Carol had finally gotten Judith to sleep, but it had taken a good deal of pacing around the prison with her and passing her off to Hershel now and again to finally soothe the little girl.

They'd also forced Carl to bed, somewhat against the boy's will, but they were the only two to sleep all night.

No one knew what to expect from this Woodbury place. They didn't know how dangerous it was and they didn't know whether or not Daryl or any of the other ran the risk of getting captured in the plan, that was seen as foolish by many, to go and get Merle.

So they'd stayed up, silently brooding…no one wanting to admit what was on their mind and no one wanting to discuss what they should do in the chance that their group members not return.

Finally they had returned, though, well after the sun had come up. Carol had been on watch and had come out the tower as quickly as possible, Hershel close by, to let them pass through the prison gates. Everyone else, it seemed, took the opportunity to retire to bed because they had vanished by the time they made it inside.

They'd found Merle and he'd more than made an entrance, but he'd been somewhat subdued by Daryl and Rick who rushed him off to a cell that they'd prepared for him and locked him away, dropping a privacy sheet over the front of the cell almost as though they were covering a parrot that they hoped to keep quiet and out of mind for a while.

Carol had seen Merle, but she hadn't actually spoken to him and Daryl vanished with Rick not long after they'd rushed the man off to the cell they'd prepared for him.

She was happy to see that Alice had apparently found Melodye…Mel…her partner, but the story wasn't one that was told to them immediately. Alice had quickly directed the woman to her cell without saying much to anyone and then she'd taken Michonne down to her office since the light of day had shown that the woman had suffered some injuries during their trip to the so called town.

And once she'd been patched up, Alice had vanished. Carol passed through to her cell a few moments, finding the prison pretty much a ghost town all of a sudden, but even when she lie on her bunk she knew she wasn't going to sleep. She was far too wound up and she had far too much going on in her mind.

Merle was back and he was in the prison with people he'd tried to kill…good people…their people. How was that going to play out? Was it even reasonable to think that Merle Dixon could learn to play well with others?

How was this Governor man…this madman or whoever he was that ran this little town…going to feel about Merle's departure? Furthermore, Carol wanted to know what happened. How exactly had Daryl found Merle? How had they gotten out? Had anything else happened?

And now they had Alice's partner here. For all intents and purposes, Carol had figured the woman to be dead, and she knew that Alice had figured it as well. How was that going to change things around the prison? She didn't know anything about the woman except from stories that Alice had told her, and Carol knew that stories that you told about your deceased loved ones could differ greatly from the truth of who the person had really been and what they'd really been like when their memory wasn't painted gold by the sadness of their passing.

She didn't know, either, how Alice's risen-from-the-dead partner was going to come into play with Michonne. She knew that Alice said they were just friends, but she didn't know if Michonne knew that, and she didn't know if the partner knew anything about Michonne.

Above everything else though, as the brain has a way of being selfish, Carol wondered how everything around her was going to affect her. How was Daryl going to act now that he was back under the thumb of his older brother? How was he going to be with her?

Sadly, Carol imagined that whatever had happened with her and Daryl…whatever she'd hoped he'd felt or thought he'd felt was probably over now. She didn't imagine that she would fit any kind of image Merle might have of what his brother deserved in a woman and she couldn't see Daryl doing anything to upset Merle.

Carol wrestled her way out of her bunk, her chest aching at the thought. At least…at least there'd been something. At least she'd had the little bit of time with him that she had shared with him before Merle came back from the dead.

As Carol wandered in the prison she found it abandoned. Everyone was probably sleeping off the night before. It had been a long night for everyone…those inside the prison and those that had ventured out.

Carol made her way outside as quietly as possible so as to not wake anyone else. There was no one on guard because of exhaustion and with this possible madman in their backyard that might not be the best idea they'd ever had. At least if she couldn't sleep, and she couldn't focus on anything else except what was left of her heart breaking, she could keep watch while the others slept, their lives much less altered by Merle's return than her own…most of them probably completely unaware of what had even happened between her and Daryl.

Carol made her way up to the guard tower slowly and let herself inside. She was surprised, and even jumped a little, to find another warm body up there.

At the first initial realization that the room wasn't empty, her heart had nearly leapt into her throat that it might be Daryl, but it wasn't Daryl. There, slumped against the wall, half on watch and half asleep perhaps, was Michonne.

Carol took a seat against the opposite wall and looked out at the foggy cold morning in front of them. She hadn't actually really had much of a conversation with the woman before and she wasn't sure that Michonne was going to be overly friendly to anyone in the prison besides Alice.

"Did they kick you out?" Carol asked softly, realizing that the woman had been bunking with Alice, but given that Alice's partner had returned that might change the dynamic a little.

Michonne rolled her head in Carol's direction and shrugged a little, licking her lips.

"No," she said softly. "I just thought they might want to be alone."

Carol nodded gently. Michonne stared off into space, almost at her shoes, and then chuckled slightly.

"They told me I could stay," she said. "Sitting there on the bunk like they were kids, you know? Being punished for something."

Michonne hummed a little.

"I figured that they might as well have this…might as well be alone for a bit," she said.

Carol nodded again.

"Daryl's with Merle?" Michonne asked after a moment. Carol glanced at her. She hadn't realized the woman would be this chatty. At first glance she appeared to be one of those people who's almost impenetrable. She only spoke when it seemed important, but at the moment that front didn't seem to be there. Her features were soft and relaxed. She almost seemed _warm_ to Carol.

"I don't know where he is," Carol admitted. It was the truth. She didn't know if he was with Merle or if he was with Rick. He may even be alone, hiding out in his perch, for all she knew. What she did know was that he wasn't with her.

Michonne made a face that looked something like a soft smile she wasn't ready to commit to.

"How long have you been together?" Michonne asked.

Carol creased her brow at the woman.

"You and Daryl," Michonne offered, apparently thinking that Carol needed that as clarification when really what Carol wanted to know was how Michonne had become aware of the relationship that she thought was pretty well secret to the group.

Carol shook her head.

"We're not together," she said softly. "We're just friends."

Michonne raised her eyebrows.

"Oh," she said. "I thought…" she let her voice trail off.

Carol shook her head again.

"No…but it's fine. I thought you and Alice…" Carol started, hoping she hadn't just stepped in something the moment the words came out of her mouth.

Michonne snickered but didn't look at her.

"Mmm…" Michonne hummed. "No…not Alice."

Carol narrowed her eyes at the woman. If they were going to sit in a guard tower while everything around them was a little crazy, she might as well go all in. If there was anything she'd gotten from her friendship with Alice, it seemed that she'd gotten the trait of not giving a damn if she was prying for too much information. She almost laughed at herself.

"So…are you gay too?" Carol asked.

Michonne glanced at her and smiled slightly.

"Boy that's a question, isn't it?" Michonne asked.

Carol wasn't sure what it was supposed to mean.

"Are you?" Michonne asked.

Carol shook her head, realizing that Michonne hadn't actually responded. Michonne nodded slightly in response, humming a little in her throat.

"I wasn't…not before all this happened," Michonne said. She looked at Carol and cocked her head to the side. "Do you think you could do that, though? Not be gay…and then be gay…but it just happens for one person?"

Carol thought about it for a moment and remembered her wine induced decision making with Alice. If she reflected on it closely enough, she realized that she could have very well…if the circumstances had been different…gone over some kind of edge with Alice that night. And really there was no telling where she might have ended up if things had gone differently.

She shrugged finally, chuckling softly.

"I guess you could," she said. "Is that what happened?"

Michonne sucked her teeth, suddenly developing an interest in all the nothing that was happening in the prison yard below them.

"Guess you could say that," Michonne said. "Good lesson to me. Used to think that because my ex-husband was an asshole, all men were assholes. Now I'm pretty damn sure all women are assholes too."

She glanced back in Carol's direction, the soft smile returning to her face.

"What does that make me now?" She asked, her eyes trained on Carol.

Carol smiled at her.

"I'm not sure," Carol said honestly. "Jaded? Maybe just informed."

Michonne leaned her head back against the wall and sighed, glancing back at the fog filled yard or the Walker lined fences…it was difficult to tell.

"We're at the end of days, right?" She said. "And people still haven't changed…not one bit. Always looking to upgrade somehow."

Carol wasn't sure what the woman was talking about, but she'd let her talk. It wasn't like she had anywhere to go or anything to do and she didn't exactly feel the desire to go down and put her efforts into cooking and doing laundry and taking care of every little detail of life for everyone else in the prison. Besides, perhaps listening to someone else's problems would make hers seem a little less dramatic…for at least the time being.

Michonne faced Carol then.

"Have you ever done something…so unlike yourself for someone?" Michonne asked.

Carol nodded. She could think of a few different examples, but she realized that the question only required that she show she could sympathize with where the woman might be coming from. It wasn't necessary that she offer any information about herself.

"Plucked her right out of the dirt…took care of her," Michonne said. She shook her head. "Hell…I've lost everything that meant anything to me anyway, thought maybe I'd at least found something in all this hell. And then just like that…she's done because of some asshole who offers her…" Michonne broke off for a second. "A warm bed? A hot shower?"

Michonne shook her head.

"I guess I won't know exactly what I got sold out for…doesn't matter anyway," she said. "Same difference. Lost my husband over a younger woman…I guess it's all the same."

"Someone you knew?" Carol asked. She wasn't sure who the woman was referring to, but she remembered Alice saying that she'd been in a lesbian relationship and the ex had apparently worked Michonne over in some way. They'd fought as she was leaving the town. Now Carol was beginning to understand a little of what might have happened there.

And it hurt to lose the person you loved because there was something new in their life…something they saw as better in some way.

Michonne nodded.

"Saw her last night," Michonne said. She smirked. "I went back to…" her voice broke off again. "I don't know why I went back. I wanted him exposed. I wanted everyone…especially her…to see him for what he was."

"Is that how you got hurt?" Carol asked. She wondered where the cuts and bruises came from and why the woman was the only one to have suffered any sort of injury in the little trip that they'd taken.

Michonne nodded in response.

"He had these tanks…fish tanks…full of heads," Michonne said. "Had a little girl…his daughter, I'm guessing…a Walker. All caged up too, tied up like a pet. He kept his own daughter like that."

Carol felt her breath catch.

The mention of anyone's child as a Walker sent her stomach into knots and reminded her of the horrible image burned into her mind of Sophia. She tried to keep her breathing steady though. She couldn't have imagined wanting to keep Sophia…as a Walker…as some kind of pet, but she hated to admit that part of her could see that being something a parent might do.

"It's hard to lose a child," Carol said softly.

Michonne shot her a look she didn't fully understand and wasn't entirely comfortable with. She reminded herself that she didn't really know this woman, no matter how quickly she felt like she could relate to her, at least on some level.

"I'm not saying it's right," Carol added softly.

Michonne glanced away from her then.

"I put the little girl out of her misery," Michonne said, her voice catching oddly. "We fought…he tried to kill me…I took his eye."

Carol was surprised at how calmly the woman in front her was recounting the details of what had happened to her in Woodbury…details that were probably important for Rick and Daryl to know as soon as possible if they didn't already know.

Michonne looked back at her.

"She showed up…pointed a gun at me," Michonne said. She chuckled. "Pointed a gun at me over him…no question about the Walker…no question about the heads…no question about my injuries. She pointed the gun right at me for him."

Carol swallowed.

On the one hand she could see that the woman in front of her was a deeply hurt person. She'd been hurt, apparently, before any of this had happened. There was no telling what she'd lost since the world had gone mad, and now there was clearly someone back at this Woodbury place that she'd cared deeply for and she felt betrayed.

The woman could very well be a ticking time bomb as far as emotions went. Or she may simply be a hurt person with all the good intentions in the world. It was difficult to tell these days.

Carol knew she didn't want to upset the woman, though. If anything she wanted to extend an olive branch…some comfort…anything she had to offer. And she needed to find out if Daryl and Rick were aware of what had taken place in case the madman might be searching for something…for some kind of revenge. If the man was crazy and evil enough to want Michonne and Alice both dead for simply leaving his little town, he probably wouldn't take kindly to losing Melodye and Merle as well. And he'd probably take even less kindly to the loss of his daughter, Walker or not, and his eye.

"I'm sorry," Carol offered. "I'm sorry that she did that to you."

She realized it was the weakest apology she could offer. They were the emptiest words of comfort imaginable. But that was all she had at the moment.

"Thank you," Michonne said softly. She nodded her head a little and sighed.

"Did you tell anyone else what happened?" Carol asked.

Michonne shook her head.

"I went on my own," she replied.

Carol cleared her throat, hoping to get rid of the knot that had been hanging there for some time now.

"Do you think he might…retaliate?" She asked, searching for her words. "Maybe we should tell the others…" She let her voice break off. She didn't want Michonne to think that she would betray her trust or confidence. "Not everything, I mean…just that he might…come here."

Michonne looked at her, her face the same stone façade that it had been before this little chat. The way that it had been most of the time since she'd gotten here.

"Oh…he'll come…" she said.


	39. Chapter 39

**AN: Hi everyone! Here's a little chapter for you. Sorry it's taken a couple of days. I've just been super busy and it's been hard to get into the zone. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think! **

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Carol dismissed herself from the discussion that was taking place inside. She was fairly certain that no one would notice her absence and it wasn't really that much of a big deal.

She knew Michonne's story about what had happened when they'd returned to Woodbury. In fact, it was Carol who had helped to edit the story so that it included as much as everyone needed to know, without revealing too much.

They had a group discussion, though, about what to do about Merle Dixon, and it had been stressed to say the least. Finally it had been agreed that he could temporarily "join" their group, but he would do it unarmed and at the first sign that he was more the Governor's man than a team player for them, he would be asked to leave.

Carol had kept her eye on Daryl during the whole discussion and she could tell that he was uncomfortable with the whole situation, but she wasn't sure if he was uncomfortable because the group was discussing what to do with his brother as though they'd taken a prisoner of war or if it was merely Merle's presence that had made him uncomfortable.

When they'd brought Merle into the fold, so to speak, things had simply gotten more complicated. It wasn't easy to wrangle Merle Dixon's tongue and he was already off on tangents of one sort or the other, badgering people.

He had, though, been able to give them some insider information into this Governor man, and Carol had to admit that the sound of the man made her skin crawl. He was crazy to say the least, at least that's what she gathered, and he masqueraded as some kind of Boy Scout when really he was a manipulative murderer.

Although their group's hands weren't clean, perhaps, they were apparently spotless in comparison to the hands of the Governor. Merle reported that the man had amassed quite a pile of "things", which in this world translated to be one of the few kinds of riches that existed, and he'd amassed a pile of weapons as well. The problem with his collections, however, wasn't so much that he had them…no one denied anyone else the things they'd acquired honestly…it was that he'd gotten them all by killing presumably innocent people to get them.

Merle had also shed some light on Michonne's situation for everyone. He'd begun by shocking them all when he revealed that he'd known Michonne since she got there because she'd come with someone he knew…someone he'd never thought he'd see again after leaving the roof in Atlanta. Michonne had arrived in Woodbury with Andrea and it had been Merle himself who had found the two of them with Andrea half dead from some kind of flu that had had turned into pneumonia.

At the mention of Andrea, Carol had felt her chest close almost. They'd left the woman behind, convinced she was dead. Now they knew the truth…she wasn't dead. She'd just been left behind.

And the realization hurt Carol's heart. They'd abandoned her and Carol couldn't even begin to imagine what Andrea must have felt when she'd realized that they'd all gone from the farm and she was there alone…in the midst of a herd…and very likely poorly armed. Carol had spent what time she'd remained inside fighting nausea over the mere thought of it and it was one reason that she'd excused herself to go outside and get a little air.

Furthermore, Carol had cast a glance in Michonne's direction at the mention of Andrea. Michonne had told her about the woman who had, for all intents and purposes, broken Michonne's heart. Carol would have never thought in a million years that the woman would be Andrea…but apparently it was and it was making Carol wonder what had changed in Andrea since they'd seen her.

Now she was in Woodbury, though, and essentially lost to their group. She'd chosen to stay there over going with Michonne. She'd chosen the Governor over the woman. Andrea was, from what Carol could gather, essentially sleeping with their enemy.

Merle reported, after being forced to apologize…or at least so much as Merle Dixon apologized for anything…to Alice and Michonne for trying to kill them, that the Governor had plans for Michonne before she'd left.

The woman was a force to be reckoned with apparently, though they'd had little chance to see her in action. The Governor had originally allowed her to live because she'd come as part of just a pair of women and he didn't see her as any threat. Both of them had come with nothing as well, so there wasn't anything he stood to gain monetarily from killing them from the beginning. But if he kept them, and he won them over to his way of life, then he stood to gain a lot from them.

Merle suspected that the Governor had exactly what he wanted from Andrea, but that he'd had plans to keep Michonne around both to placate Andrea and eventually to win her over as some sort of soldier in his little army of people who went about slaughtering people for their goods.

And he'd had plans for Alice too, apparently. Though Alice didn't clearly remember what had happened to her, apparently owing to a really nicely dealt concussion, Merle said that they'd brought her in, having stumbled upon her and T-Dog but only after the herd had hit them and T-Dog had made his escape.

They had taken her out simply by blunt force to the head…the easiest way to do things…and had brought her as a trophy of sorts to the Governor to see what he wanted to do with her. The Governor needed doctors, and when she'd said she was a doctor, he'd decided that he wanted her to stay in Woodbury.

She would have been used to keep their torture victims alive if they required it, as well as to treat the townspeople. Carol had listened to it and imagined that it wouldn't have been a lifestyle that Alice would have enjoyed very much, though it sounded like she would have either had to do it or die for her transgression.

And so the Governor had wanted both the women dead for trying to leave. They wouldn't succumb to his will and if they escaped the town alive they could very well bring back others to try and overtake him and take possession of all he owned.

So Woodbury was the kind of place where you could never leave. And if you left, it was only to take your place in whatever "next world" you were going to.

And that's when Carol had decided to excuse herself. She felt like she had enough information to process for one night.

They'd have to decide what to do about the Governor. Michonne felt that he'd be coming for her if he found out where she was and that had caused a momentary stir about her presence in the prison until Merle pointed out that it was a matter of time anyway before the Governor came. As soon as he became aware that there was another group living in the area…and especially once he knew they were in the prison and more or less in his backyard…he'd descend upon them with the intention of looting them and killing them out.

The picture that Merle painted wasn't a pretty one, and essentially Carol gathered from it that they were all as good as dead if they let this man surprise them. He had more people than them, he had more supplies than them, and he had more weapons than them.

He was also ruthless enough to attack and kill them for no reason whatsoever…but the fact that several of the people in their group had now entered and left Woodbury, the Governor's precious secrets in tow…would make him even more bloodthirsty toward them when he discovered this fact, if he didn't already know it.

Carol knew, though, that tonight they wouldn't decide what to do about the man. Tonight they'd all be too busy trying to process everything…trying to figure out what to do with all the information that they now had…and she processed things better on her own and away from the crowd.

On top of the Governor, the whole situation with Andrea was weighing on her mind. If she hadn't heard Michonne's story, and she hadn't heard Merle's confirmation that Andrea was attached to the Governor, she would have rallied that they go after Andrea and bring her back to the prison.

Now, though, she thought that wouldn't work. Andrea…at least the Andrea they'd known…had been left behind. They'd left her behind, and it seemed that she'd found herself a new place. She'd found herself a new niche, so to speak, even though it was a niche with a madman.

Carol wished there was something they could do, but they'd left the woman behind, and they couldn't blame her for taking whatever roads she'd had to take to stay alive…though Carol also wasn't going to deny Michonne her own feelings toward Andrea. What had happened between them, whatever it really was, was something that didn't have a thing to do with the group.

Carol was wandering around the bottom of the guard tower in contemplation so deep that she almost screamed when she felt a hand clasp her hard around the shoulder and yank her.

In the dark her mind offered her the only scenario it could. The Governor and whatever army he had with him, had already discovered them. He'd already infiltrated the prison, and she'd been dumb enough to get grabbed in the yard, away from everyone else.

The hand that closed over her mouth kept her from screaming, though, and a moment later her body was flush against another body…a hard body…a body she was familiar with but she hadn't been suspecting at the moment.

It was Daryl and he drug her deeper into the shadows and farther away from everyone else, down beside the prison wall where they hardly ever ventured, before he let go of her and moved his hand from her mouth. If it hadn't been for his smell and for the familiarity of how his body felt, she might not have known until that moment that she actually wasn't being kidnapped.

"What did you do that for?" Carol hissed when she'd been freed and turned around to find Daryl leaning against the wall, almost completely cloaked in darkness.

"What the hell ya doin' wanderin' out here alone?" Daryl responded. "Weren't ya listenin' in there? There's a fuckin' crazy man who might be after our asses an' ya disappear…an' when I go ta ya cell lookin' for ya I find ya ain't no damn where around 'cause ya out here roamin' 'round like ya fuckin' Lil' Red Ridin' Hood or somethin'."

Carol didn't know why it struck her as funny, but it did and she couldn't stifle the chuckle that rolled up in her throat.

"And you're the Big Bad Wolf?" She asked, teasing.

Daryl hissed in the darkness. Carol felt a bit of chill run through her and she rubbed her arms, the friction warming them.

"Were you looking for me for a reason?" Carol asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"What you think about all this shit that's goin' on?" Daryl asked.

In the darkness a flame roared up and Carol realized that Daryl was lighting a cigarette. She shrugged, but she realized afterward that he wasn't likely able to see her movements.

"I don't know," she said. "It's a lot to take in…"

That was an understatement, but Carol hadn't had the time that she needed to process everything and that was going to be the best kind of statement she could make at this moment.

"Andrea ain't dead…" Daryl said.

Carol nodded, again realizing she was hidden by the dark.

She wasn't sure that she understood what was going on here. Why had Daryl drug her out here…out into the privacy of some abandoned little nook in the prison yard…to discuss what they'd just discussed inside? Why were they hiding like teenagers doing things their parents wouldn't approve of if all they were going to do was talk about the things that everyone was talking about?

"I heard…" she said.

"Don't know what the fuck ta do with Merle here," Daryl offered. He hissed, air blowing through his teeth likely, and Carol wondered if that's what this was really about.

Maybe Daryl was bothered by Merle being here, or maybe he'd drug her out here to "let her down". She couldn't be sure exactly what was going on, but something in the air felt like she might be right.

Carol cleared her throat.

"Daryl…is there something you want to talk to me about?" Carol asked. "Something specifically about me?"

Daryl was quiet enough that if Carol hadn't known that he hadn't moved for the glowing tip of his cigarette, she might have reached a hand out to assure herself that he was still there and she wasn't standing there talking to a stone wall like a crazy person.

Daryl sucked his teeth after a moment.

"I don't know…" he started. "Merle…he can be a right big pain in the ass…an' don't nobody know 'bout us…but'cha can bet Merle can sniff that shit out."

Carol nodded, not really caring that Daryl couldn't see her. So this was it. This was how the official conversation would go. It wasn't a surprise or anything. She'd figured that nothing would ever come of whatever had happened with her and Daryl in the watchtower.

He'd been adamant that no one should find out about it, and Carol assumed that either the majority of the prison didn't know about it or they'd chosen to pretend they didn't to keep with his wishes. He'd worried about people finding out, he'd worried about people talking about it, he'd worried about people finding the used condoms…he'd even worried that they might somehow detect that something was going on from just the normal everyday glances that they gave one another.

For just a moment there, as she was recovering from her time in solitary confinement, Carol had thought that maybe Daryl had changed his mind. Maybe he was going to care about her like she cared about him…maybe he'd care enough that he wouldn't give a single damn about anyone knowing about them.

And given time…he might have arrived at that point.

But Merle was back now and Merle would rib Daryl. As his brother, Merle would know all the ways to get to Daryl, all the ways to hit his most sensitive spots. And Carol figured that if Merle knew she and Daryl had anything…anything at all really…he'd harass his brother about it. That was something that Daryl probably couldn't handle.

And he certainly wouldn't be able to handle it for the likes of her. If it had been Beth…well if she'd been something better…younger…beautiful…then maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. Maybe Merle would have teased him, but teased him for having come up with something good.

For her, though, it would be bad.

So Carol had expected it to come and she'd known that eventually Daryl would address it so that she'd know to keep her distance. She'd know to make sure that nothing was said or done that would ever indicate to Merle what had happened between them.

And that's why they were talking in the dark shadows of the empty nook.

Carol felt a boldness inside her that she hadn't felt in a very, very long time. It didn't matter what she did anyway. This relationship…this coupling…this whatever the hell it was ended now and it ended here. She might as well take away from it whatever she wanted. When she left the darkened little nook, she'd leave Daryl Dixon as her lover behind…and the most she could hope for was that he still wanted to be her friend.

Carol leaned in and with her fingertips found his lips. She let her lips quickly replace them, perched up on her tiptoes, and she kissed him, her tongue darting out and licking at his lips, asking for access for one last time to his mouth. Daryl obliged her and she gave herself over to the kiss, holding it as long as she could, searching out everything she could in his mouth.

If it was going to be the last kiss that she had with him…and possibly the last one she ever had…she was going to make it count.

Daryl's hands went to her hips and held her tight. She gasped a little into his mouth when he bucked his body into her, hard, almost grinding her against him afterwards. His arousal at the moment was more than evident, and Carol decided that if she was taking one last kiss with her, she didn't have much else to lose.

Carol pulled out of the kiss and away from Daryl enough for her hands to go to his pants. She unbuttoned them and slipped her hand inside, wrapping it around him. He hissed at her.

"What're ya doin'," he hissed.

"Shhh…" Carol responded. She didn't explain herself. She didn't feel like explaining herself. She knew where this conversation was headed and it was headed straight for goodbye, so she would hold off the chatter until she was done.

Carol backed up and got out of her pants and boots as quickly as possible, hoping she could find everything again in the dark when they were done. She would hate to have to discreetly dart for her cell without her pants.

Daryl started to ask something else or say something else, but Carol shushed him again. She brought her mouth to his again in a kiss and wondered how the hell they were going to do this. She was ready and she was willing…but at the end of the day it was going to be Daryl that was going to have to make the next move.

"If you want this…" she said, barely pulling her lips away from him. "Then you need to help me…"

Daryl's hands went back to her hips and he turned her around against the wall, backing her against the cold stone. And together he hoisted her up and she put her effort into wrapping her legs around him, helping to guide him into her.

As Daryl did his best to fuck her against the wall…and that's what she considered it at this point…Carol realized she would never think to herself that this was the best sex of her life…or even the best sex she'd ever had with Daryl…but it would be the last and she'd remember it.

So she closed her eyes, wrapped herself around him, and focused her attention on at least making sure that she came one last time…something to hold onto. And she did come, hard. She buried her face in Daryl's neck to stifle the cries and when he came he did the same thing, biting her as he came down.

And it was Carol's turn to immediately shuffle around in the dark with her feet after Daryl had put her down and her knees had proven that they weren't going to give out.

She had decided that, if nothing else, she was walking out of this with her pride so she wasn't going to cry and she wasn't going to protest. She was going to accept that they'd had what they'd had and she would be thankful for that, but she wasn't going to make a scene and she wasn't going to beg Daryl to make things more than he wanted them to be.

Carol found her pants and got dressed in the dark. She was down a sock, but she figured finding a random sock somewhere wouldn't tip anyone off…at least she'd found her panties in the dark. When she had her clothes back on Daryl was already dressed and leaning against the wall again.

"What…" he started.

Carol found his lips again and quieted him. She really didn't want to hear the words. She didn't want to hear what kind of "it's not you, it's me" speech might be offered to her by Daryl Dixon at the end of the world. She didn't want those words and she certainly didn't want them always hanging over her head…always replaying in her mind like some broken recording.

"It's OK, Daryl," Carol said. "It was fun. I had a good time. There's no need for any of this to ever get back to Merle. You don't even have to think about it anymore. I promise…everything's fine. He never has to know."

Carol felt a lump rising in her throat and she swallowed hard to push it back down. She was not going to cry. She just wasn't going to do it…not here and not now…what happened in her cell, when she was alone? That might be a different story, but she wasn't going to do it where Daryl could hear it.

So she did the only thing that she could think to do. She squeezed Daryl's arm in the darkness before quickly turning to walk away, back the way that he'd brought her to tell it was over, and slipped quietly inside the prison to head for her cell, leaving Daryl in the nook to enter quietly and discreetly whenever he felt it was safe to come through without anyone suspecting that they'd been outside together.


	40. Chapter 40

**AN: Wow! So I wasn't sure what to update tonight, but I figured I'd help you guys out! **

**First off, thanks for all the reviews and messages. I haven't responded to them all individually, but I really do love and appreciate all of them.**

**Secondly, I didn't think that everyone would react the way they did…I thought you might have seen the card I was about to throw out…but here it is…**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl had spent most of his night in his perch playing with an arrow and trying to figure out what in the fuck was going on. He'd heard Merle say, for most of his life, that women were too damn complicated. They were good for fucking, but you couldn't take them seriously if you wanted to make it out alive.

Daryl was never sure if he'd believed him until now.

So when Daryl heard the rumbling metallic rattle of feet on the staircase, indicating that people were finally starting to stir about and he wasn't alone with his thoughts anymore, he rolled over and glanced through the space in the guardrail bars to see that it was just the bitch he was waiting for that was coming down the steps two at a time, still getting dressed to take watch.

Daryl got up and slipped his boots on quickly, having not bothered to shuck off anything else, and took off quietly after Alice.

Glenn and Maggie were coming through the door for a nap just as Daryl was about to squeeze through it. He didn't miss that Glenn and Maggie both glared at him and only nodded their greeting, he supposed, as some kind of courtesy.

He knew why they were pissed at him. He'd seen the looks on their faces when Merle joined the group the night before. They blamed Merle for what had happened to them…and even though he'd been acting for his former boss, they weren't completely wrong. The problem, though, was that they also blamed Daryl now. He'd brought Merle to the prison. He'd been the asshole that had been birthed by the same parents…and now he was guilty by association of Merle's crimes, although perhaps to some lesser degree.

So Daryl wasn't surprised that the two of them were pissed at him, and he wouldn't be surprised if Beth and Hershel both were a little sore as well…after all, it affected their little family unit.

Then there was Michonne. Daryl wasn't even sure what to do with the woman. If he hadn't been Merle's brother he thought he might actually get along with her. She seemed pretty damn intense, but he didn't mind that too much.

Last night, though, she hadn't seemed pleased with Merle's presence and Merle didn't know how to stop acting like the racist asshole he was, so he had a few choice names for her and made fucking kissy faces at her every chance he got. Apparently the woman had also been fucking Andrea, a fact that took everyone a little by surprise, and Merle had announced that to the group, further irritating Michonne.

So Daryl wouldn't be surprised if she hated him too for being Merle's brother.

And on top of all that, he'd gone to Carol last night to talk to her about Merle. He'd tried to figure out how in the hell to let her know that Merle was damn good at sniffing out sex on people. He could tell when two people had hooked up at a hundred yards.

Daryl knew it wasn't going to take Merle any time to figure out what he and Carol had been doing. They might have kept it hidden from just about every damn person in the prison, but everyone else wasn't Merle and they didn't have the same interest in Daryl and what the hell he did with his life that Merle had.

Merle had been on Daryl's ass since he was probably thirteen years old that he ought to get some ass here or get some ass there. It had been like a damn hobby for his brother. At times Daryl had thought Merle was more interested in the ass that he was or wasn't getting than he was in what Merle himself was doing.

So Daryl had wanted to warn Carol that when Merle got wind of it they were probably in for some heavy harassment. He'd thought she might want to prepare for it…do some damn stretches or something, because Merle was just as likely to blow the top off their little…whatever the hell it had been…as he had been with what had apparently happened between Michonne and Andrea.

But Daryl wasn't sure what had happened when he'd tried to talk to Carol. It was like she'd already anticipated what the fuck he was going to say or something…and it was like she wasn't OK with it.

Daryl knew that Merle could be a pain in the ass and he ran his mouth too damn much, but the truth of it was that Merle was just an asshole. His badgering was what the fuck he did. It was what made him Merle. He was probably damn happy he lost his hand on that roof because if he'd lost his fucking tongue for being a dick he'd have died without it. Merle had to run his mouth to be Merle.

And Daryl knew that Carol could be sensitive, but he didn't realize that Merle would have been that fucking serious to her. She'd been the one, after all, that had convinced him that he really did need to go after his brother. She'd never made any indication to him, though, that once he went for the fucker she was going to just duck right out of his life with nothing else to say.

Still, it seemed to Daryl that was what the fuck had happened. She'd barely let him even begin to chew on what the hell he might want to say…to see how she felt about Merle…before she'd blown his mind by kissing him like she'd never kissed him before and then insisting that he fuck her right there by the prison wall.

At first he'd liked it too…there was something really exciting…something he'd never felt before when she took over things like that. He loved how soft and sweet she was usually, but there had been something so damn hot about her being the one to take control…the one to tell him what the hell they were going to do…that it had almost blown his fucking mind. And he'd thought that obviously having Merle there didn't bother her too damn bad…not if it had brought that out in her.

But then she'd insisted that Merle didn't have to find out…she told him…what? She told him she'd had fucking fun? Like they'd been playing a game or something? Maybe it was a fucking game, but he wished to hell someone had explained the rules a little damn better because he was pretty sure he lost and he wasn't even sure what move had been the wrong damn one to make.

She was riding his dick against a prison wall one minute and telling him that shit was fun but done the next.

So now he was, almost regretfully, seeking out the only damn person he thought might be able to tell him what the hell had happened here.

From the night before, Daryl figured Alice was the only damn person that had contact with Merle and the Governor fellow that wasn't pissed at him. She'd been so damn happy with the skinny little blonde she'd acquired that it was like she couldn't give two fucks about the rest of everything they were talking about.

She was also, or so he felt, the only person period that wasn't at least a little miffed at his ass for Merle coming to the prison.

Daryl climbed up into the watchtower and found Alice there, leaning over the banister, staring out at the yard. He considered trying to scare her, but since he needed some damn body on his side right now he wasn't going to fuck with her.

Daryl cleared his throat to alert her to his presence and Alice swung around, still seeming a little surprised not to be alone in the tiny space.

"Oh…hey….you on watch too?" Alice asked.

Morning watch, at least morning watch this early, was usually done by one person and it was boring as fuck. Nothing was happening at this hour and most of the prison was still asleep with the occasional exception of Hershel…and maybe Judith. It wasn't even time for Carol to start getting breakfast ready.

"I need ta fuckin' talk ta ya ass," Daryl said.

Alice raised her eyebrows.

"Well good morning to you too, cupcake," she said.

Daryl made a face at her.

"Man…why ya fuck women if ya got a choice not ta do it?" Daryl asked. "This shit's fuckin' complicated as hell."

Alice made a face at him and he could tell she was somewhat amused.

"Trouble in paradise?" She asked.

Daryl sucked his teeth in response.

"Every damn body's pissed at me 'bout my fuckin' brother," Daryl said, not really knowing why he felt like he could talk to the woman, but he figured if she had her head in everybody's business anyway it wasn't like he could tell her anything that she didn't know or wouldn't find out.

Alice chuckled.

"Hmmm," she hummed. "He is a charmer, that one…"

"Why ain't you fuckiin' pissed at me?" Daryl asked.

Alice cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Why would I be pissed at you? I'm not even sure I'm pissed at him…" she responded.

"He tried ta kill ya worthless ass," Daryl said. "Damn near gutted ya an' the only damn reason ya still alive is 'cause he's a stupid fucker an' missed everythin' important."

Alice laughed at him.

"You almost sound pissed at me that he didn't kill me," she said.

Daryl huffed at her and leaned against the wall. Alice laughed again and shook her head.

"I don't know…maybe I'm pissed…maybe I'm not. He tried to kill me…and that's pretty shitty considering I never even knew his name, but…who can say what you'd do if a crazy ass was pulling your strings like you were a marionette? Even when I decide if I'm pissed at him, it wouldn't mean I was pissed at you," Alice said. "I hated Mel's brother and he hated me…never changed me and Mel."

"Yeah well…Carol's fuckin' pissed," Daryl said.

Alice sighed and crossed her arms.

"What happened?" She asked. "Did you fight?"

Daryl shrugged. Now that he had come here and he'd opened this can of worms with the brunette, he wished he hadn't. He didn't know how to explain what the hell had happened when he didn't understand it himself. That's really what the hell he wanted from her…an explanation.

"Well?" Alice urged.

Daryl chewed at his lip where the skin was starting to get hard from having chapped too bad.

"Fuck it," he said. "I don't wanna talk about this shit with you."

Alice laughed again. She turned around, leaning on the banister again and looking down at the prison yard.

"Suit yourself," she said. "You aren't raining on my parade today."

"What'cha so fuckin' happy for no way?" Daryl asked. She was almost nauseatingly happy and with his current bad mood it wasn't cute.

Alice hummed something at him.

"I don't know what you were doing with your night," she responded. "But I was using mine wisely."

Alice turned and glanced at him over her shoulder.

"You were apparently fighting…while I was putting prison springs to good use," Alice said. She winked at him. "Might even have a developing case of lockjaw."

Daryl crinkled his nose at her and she laughed again.

"So are you going to tell me what's eating your ass?" Alice asked after a second. "Because I'm not going anywhere any time soon. I've got watch and if I leave my post then Larry, Curly, and Moe on the fences out there might get into a whole boatload of trouble. Nasty shit…nasty, nasty…"

Daryl huffed again.

"I was tryin' ta talk ta Carol," he said. "But I didn't never say much a' nothin' an' then…well shit got kinda…fuck!"

Daryl didn't want to tell her what the hell had happened. He just wanted her to know or whatever the fuck it was that she did before to be able to tell what had happened between them. He didn't figure he had to give her the information, he'd just assumed that she'd know it somehow.

Alice looked over her shoulder again, slightly amused but also confused.

"You want to use some words there, big boy?" Alice asked.

"I think she fuckin' broke up with me," Daryl spat, annoyed.

Alice turned around then, leaning against the rail, her arms crossing across her chest.

"What do you mean she broke up with you?" Alice asked. "Did she tell you 'I'm breaking up with you'?"

Daryl shook his head. He really didn't know the answer to the question. She hadn't told him that, at least not in those words, but it was the only damn explanation he had managed to come up with while mulling that shit over in his perch.

"So what? What happened? You came up here to talk to me, so fucking talk!" Alice said.

"I don't know what the fuck happened!" Daryl responded, matching the urgency of his words to go with the urgency she'd put behind hers. "I come out ta talk ta her…found her out here walkin' 'round in the yard. Figured Merle was gonna figure out that we been…figured he was gonna figure it out an' prob'ly give us both hell about it. She didn't even let me figure out what the hell I wanted ta say…"

"How did she not let you figure it out?" Alice asked. "Does she have some kind of scrambler attached to your brain?"

Daryl made a face at her and she shook her head.

"Nevermind…so you wanted to talk to her…and by the way you should have been a public speaker because you've got some real speaking abilities…and she wouldn't let you speak. Did she at least speak? Because I'm starting to think I've met five year olds with better damn communication skills," Alice responded.

Daryl bit at his thumb. He was annoyed and he could feel the annoyance bubbling up worse than it had been before. He felt like he'd walk out right now if he felt like anyone else could do anything to clear this shit up or at least tell him if Merle was the only damn thing he'd done wrong.

"We fucked, alright?" Daryl said.

Alice nodded her head.

"Was it that bad?" She asked.

"Shut the fuck up," Daryl responded. "Weren't bad…was good…but then she was all like 'thanks' an' then she marched the hell outta there."

Alice chuckled.

"Well at least she said thanks, right?" She responded.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her and she chuckled again throwing her hands up.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked. "I wasn't there…I didn't take part in it. I don't even know what happened."

"I told ya what happened…" Daryl said.

"And now you want me to fix it or what?" Alice asked.

Daryl wasn't sure if he wanted her to fix it or if he even thought she could. He honestly had no more of an idea of what he expected from her than she did. He wasn't even sure at this point why he was there.

"Forget it," he said.

He meant it this time. Daryl turned to leave the watchtower and would have escaped to the yard, but Alice caught up with him, her hand going to his shoulder.

"Wait!" She said.

Daryl turned around, not wanting to talk to her anymore. He didn't really feel like talking to any damn body and he was sure that soon enough people would be up and moving around…all of them glaring at him for Merle's ass being there. And he'd have to skip breakfast if he didn't want to see Carol since he still understand exactly why her ass was so damn mad at him when she'd been the one to tell him to go and get Merle in the first damn place.

"Daryl…" Alice said, "if you want me to talk to her, I can talk to her."

Daryl just stared at her. She took a deep breath and rolled her eyes around like she was thinking before she dramatically let it go, her breath ruffling his hair. She shook her head and shrugged a little.

"Maybe…" She started. "Hell…maybe it was a misunderstanding. Maybe she meant something one way and you took it another. You know words come in handy…both of you could learn a whole fucking lot about each other if you'd try and use them now and again…and I don't mean just you. Carol's that kind of person who…" Alice broke off.

"Who what?" Daryl asked.

Alice growled a little and shook her head.

"She's that kind of person who's always waiting for you to read her fucking mind," Alice said. "You need some good damn intuition to know what she's thinking sometimes."

"An' you got that shit?" Daryl asked.

Alice shrugged again.

"Either I do or I've been doing this a long time. I don't even pretend to know it all, but she'd not a good poker player," Alice said.

"So? So what am I s'posed ta do?" Daryl asked.

"That depends on what the fuck you want to happen," Alice said, lowering her voice and moving her face closer to his since she was a couple of steps above him in the stairwell and that put them almost even in height.

Daryl pulled back a little.

What exactly did he want to happen? It was a good question…but it was one that he wasn't sure he'd actually considered with any seriousness before. He wasn't even sure what he thought was happening before. He'd honestly just let things go where they were going…and now he had no idea where they were going.

"Mmm," Alice hummed. Daryl realized he was standing there in silence. "Do you even know what you want?"

Daryl shrugged a little.

"I didn't want her ta leave like that," he replied.

"That's a start…" Alice responded.

"Ya gonna talk ta her?" Daryl asked.

Alice sighed loudly and put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah…I'm going to talk to her," she said. "But you might want to put a little of your time and effort into figuring out exactly what you want. If she didn't really mean she was out then it's a question you're going to have to fucking answer, and you're going to have to answer it soon."

Daryl nodded at her and descended the steps. He wasn't hungry and he figured he could slip out of the prison for a bit and maybe try to get some squirrels or a rabbit or two that hadn't disappeared into the cold weather yet. It would clear his mind, give him a chance to think, and give him a chance to stay the hell away from all the glares that he was getting for his asshole brother locked up in a holding cell like a canary in a cage.

And maybe when he got back the brunette would be able to tell him what in the hell was even happening…and he'd know where the hell this was all going.

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**AN: So there you have it…Daryl didn't actually get much of a chance to say too much…most of what happened was based on Carol's interpretations of what she thought would happen/was happening…not so much on what Daryl really had to say. He's still figuring things out…but he's not thinking the way that she thinks he was thinking. **


	41. Chapter 41

**AN: Here you go, another chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol sat in the dim light of her cell and leaned in close to the mending that she was doing with only have a mind. She'd had most of the day in the cell to think to herself. Most of the day she'd spent working her way through an almost never ending pile of ripped this and torn that…a cup of buttons wedged between her legs for when they were necessary, a few spools of threat tucked by her legs for when one ran out, an extra needle pinched between her lips for if she dropped the one she worked with and couldn't find it until later when she actually bothered to light her lamp, hoping to conserve whatever fuel she could even if it was at the expense of her already failing eyesight.

But her mind wasn't really on Rick's jeans, Glenn's shirt, Beth's favorite skirt, or Hershel's socks. Her focus was really on Daryl and on the conversation that she'd had with Alice earlier that day when the woman had asked her, dropping out of the tower long enough to acquire some of the poor breakfast they had, if she would join her for a few moments to discuss something of importance.

The something of importance was Daryl and Carol was shocked to discover that he'd apparently searched out her friend to seek some wisdom on the night before. And Alice had scolded her as though she was her mother instead of a woman who was probably at least ten years younger than her.

Apparently Daryl had not intended to break up with her. Apparently he'd wanted to talk to her. She'd stopped him from talking, though, when she'd thought for sure the words he wanted to say were words that her ears could do just fine without actually ever having to hear.

And Daryl seemed to think that Merle was going to figure out what was happening between them and he was going to…he was going to do what? Tease them like children on the playground? Was that what he was worried about?

Whatever it was he was worried about, he thought it would bother her, and he'd interpreted the night before as something…perhaps her confirmation that his worries were grounded and she couldn't handle Merle knowing about them.

So Carol had been stewing on the thing the entire day. She'd thought about everything she knew about Daryl and everything she knew about Merle from their interactions when she'd known them both together in the rock quarry outside of Atlanta.

In her life, Carol had feared a lot of things. One thing she didn't fear, though, were words that Merle Dixon could throw at her teasing her because Daryl _wanted_ to be with her. In the end that wasn't anything she feared at all. If Daryl actually did want to be with her, then Merle's words would mean nothing to her. The only way they'd affect her at all was if Daryl didn't want her…and she gathered from Alice that it wasn't the case sense Daryl had actually gone out of his comfort zone to seek council from the woman.

When Daryl appeared at her cell door, pushing the blankets hung there out of the way with his hand and cleared his throat, Carol looked up.

She'd been preparing speeches all day. She had one for every possible occasion. One for nearly everything he might say and everything he might not say. Alice had scolded her that they didn't talk and that was what had landed them in a swamp of uncertainty, so she'd prepared to talk.

But as soon as she saw him standing there, his smell drifting into the room of sweat and the exhilaration of having been out hunting, she forgot all of the speeches that she'd so carefully prepared over other people's holey clothes.

"Alice said ya was waitin' ta talk ta me," Daryl said when she looked at him.

Carol smiled to herself a little. Daryl was a man, and he was the most _perfect_ man that she'd ever known, but at times he could seem so much younger…so much younger than she even knew him to be when she regarded his greying hair and the fine lines around his eyes in the sunlight.

"I thought it was you who wanted to talk to me," Carol said.

Daryl nodded his head a little, sucking his teeth slightly and showing some sudden and intense interest in the edge of the blanket that rested against his hand before looking back at her.

"Reckon I did wanta talk ta ya…" he said.

Carol shifted, catching the rolling spools of thread and tossing everything from the mending messily back into the basket she kept in her cell. She patted the bed, offering him a space to come in and talk. Daryl looked at her a moment and then came in, crossing the cell in two steps only, and sat on the bed with at least a foot of space between them.

He was looking at his hands and glancing every now and again at her and she thought her heart might explode right out of her chest. It was like a moment of truth. He either wanted her or he didn't…and this moment would confirm the truth one way or the other.

And though Carol dreaded how she would feel if she was met with rejection, in a way she also thought it would bring relief. No matter what he said now, at least it would still her mind from thinking up scenario after scenario for her to deal with.

"What did you want to talk about?" Carol asked.

Daryl glanced at her again and she smiled at him, hoping to come across as a lot more open about things than she'd been the night before…She was, in fact, a little ashamed of how she'd acted the night before. She'd never done anything like that, and she hoped Daryl didn't hold it against her.

"Last night," Daryl started. When he hesitated, Carol kept quiet. She was going to give him the chance to say whatever he needed to say. She'd cut him off the night before and she wasn't going to be guilty of doing the same thing now. "I don't know what happened out there."

Carol lowered her eyes and cleared her throat. She picked at the fuzz balls on the blanket.

"I don't know what happened either," she said. She looked at him and he was obviously waiting for her to continue or to offer some sort of explanation. "I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have…_jumped_ you like that. I'm sorry."

Daryl sat quietly for a minute and Carol didn't know what his blank reaction was supposed to mean. After a minute he chuckled, though, and she was caught off guard, not expecting a chuckle to come into play at all in the situation.

"Damn," he said. "Weren't talkin' 'bout'cha fuckin' me…" Daryl let his voice trail off and then chuckled again. "Kinda liked that part. I meant that I wanted ta talk ta ya 'bout Merle…an' then ya did that…an' ya said Merle ain't gotta know nothin'. Ya had fuckin' fun? What the fuck, Carol?"

Carol wrinkled her brow involuntarily.

"I thought that you were going to say that you didn't want Merle to say anything…that you didn't want him to find out," Carol said. "If you don't want to…" Carol's voice broke off again because she didn't want to say the words that she felt like she needed to say. Finally, though, she found the resolve she'd been stewing all day and sucked in a breath to continue. "If you don't want to be with me, Daryl. If you're ashamed, then I understand, and no one has to know."

"Ya think I'm ashamed of ya?" Daryl asked.

Carol didn't respond. She did think he was ashamed, and everything that Ed had ever told her echoed in her mind and reminded her that he had every right to be ashamed.

"I ain't ashamed of ya," Daryl said.

Carol nodded her head a little.

"You've tried so hard to hide it," she responded. She shrugged, glancing back at the blanket that would be bare of fuzz balls and thread by the time she got done with it. "The condoms…the meeting in the watch tower. You've been so uncomfortable every time you're even near me, like you couldn't bear the thought of someone knowing."

Daryl nodded slightly and looked at the floor, his expression hard for the moment.

"Guess I just didn't want nobody to say nothin'," Daryl said. "It weren't that I was ashamed of ya…but hell…people 'round here'll rib the hell out of ya, an' I can promise ya that Merle's a helluva lot worse when he's got a mind ta be."

Now it was Carol's turn to chuckle and Daryl looked at her with some confusion in his eyes.

"You didn't want to be picked on?" Carol asked.

Daryl didn't respond.

"Daryl…the only reason the picking could get to you…should get to you…is if you're ashamed of what you're doing…or of who you're doing it with," Carol said.

"Everybody gives Glenn an' Maggie a hard damn time…hell, even I do," Daryl admitted.

Carol chuckled again.

"And?" She asked. "There's not much for entertainment these days, but at the end of the day no amount of ribbing really gets to them beyond the moment of declaring that we're gross or something like that. It's because it doesn't really matter. It's just teasing. And if Merle is worse," she stopped and shrugged, "then he's just worse. It doesn't really hurt anything."

Daryl gnawed at his lip and looked at the floor for a second before looking at her, squinting his eyes slightly.

"So it wouldn't bother ya none if they knowed?" He asked. "Ya wouldn't care if Merle said shit?"

Carol smiled and shook her head. She reached out and took Daryl's hand. For a split second he flinched, but then he relaxed and let her hold his hand between hers.

"Daryl…if we're together, and if you aren't ashamed of us being together, then I'm not ashamed. Let them tease all they want to tease. It won't bother me," Carol said. "I don't like the hiding, though. I don't like feeling like I have to be careful not to even look at you over breakfast or you're going to get…nervous…about them finding out. That makes me feel like you're ashamed of me…and then it makes me feel…" She stopped speaking.

"Feel what?" Daryl asked.

Carol shrugged.

"Cheap? Pathetic? That I'd keep meeting you in the watch tower to have sex with you because you wanted me to…but that you didn't want anyone to know…" Carol said. "It's not very flattering to think about."

Daryl squeezed the hand that his rested on.

"Didn't want'cha ta feel like that," Daryl said.

"Well I do…or I did," Carol said.

Daryl sighed and shifted his weight causing the whole bunk to rock a little.

"So what does this mean?" Daryl asked.

Carol squeezed his hand in response.

"What do you want it to mean?" She asked.

Daryl scratched his head with the hand she wasn't holding and made a face like he was considering a world of possibilities.

"If we together, does that mean we takin' watch tonight?" Daryl asked. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and she smiled. Daryl didn't flirt often, so it was amusing when he tried.

"Or you could just come to my cell," Carol offered, pursing her lips at him.

Daryl smiled.

"An' everybody else?" He asked.

Carol knew what he meant, but she was always open for a little teasing when given the opportunity and anything that might embarrass Daryl slightly and bring about at least a small bout of blushing amused her.

She shook her heaed slightly for the effect.

"I don't think I want everyone coming," she teased.

Daryl smirked and surprised her by pulling his hand free from hers to shove at her shoulder.

"I meant do we tell 'em or what?" Daryl asked.

Carol couldn't imagine how that would go. What were they going to do? Bring up a toast over dinner? Make a formal announcement? It seemed like it would be a pretty awkward thing to make up their minds to actually announce to the group that they were together.

"How about we just don't hide it?" Carol asked. "We don't have to tell them…not unless you want to…until someone notices."

She paused a moment.

"We confirm it if they ask, but we don't make a big deal of it," Carol said.

Daryl nodded his head slightly.

"Sounds fair," Daryl said. "Merle's gonna figure this shit out quick."

"If you sleep in my cell," Carol said, "and you don't run the moment your eyes open…a lot of people are going to figure it out."

Daryl sucked his teeth.

"These cells ain't exactly sound proof," Daryl said.

Carol shook her head. The cells were anything but sound proof. They'd heard more than their fair share from Glenn and Maggie's cell…so much so that even Hershel had learned to ignore it. And Alice and Mel couldn't be exactly accused of being quiet since Mel had come to stay with them. If anything happened in her cell, there was a good chance it would be like announcing it to the group.

"I can be quiet," Carol offered, worrying that Daryl might be getting nervous or might be changing his mind now that he was really realizing that if they agreed to take this beyond one or two snatched opportunities in the guard tower it would likely take less than forty eight hours before everyone knew what was going on.

Daryl sat silently for a moment and then looked at her, shaking his head slightly.

"That ain't what I want," he said. "I ain't ashamed of ya an' if ya don't care 'bout Merle's mouth…or anyone else's…"

Daryl's voice trailed off and Carol smiled reassuringly at him. She was almost afraid to let her hopes get as high as they were climbing at the moment.

"If they rib us for being together," Carol offered, hoping to reinforce whatever resolve he may have, "then they're just jealous because they don't have anyone…or they're scared that what they have isn't as good."

Daryl smirked at her.

"If you don't care," Daryl said, reaching over and squeezing one of her hands, "then I don't care."

Carol smiled and squeezed his hand in response.

"I don't care," she said, shaking her head.

Daryl leaned over and brought his lips to Carol's. She sighed into him, allowing his tongue access to his mouth and closing her eyes when she felt him bring his hand to the back of her head.

She wasn't really certain what this was for Daryl. She was fairly certain that it was love for her, but perhaps he was still working his way through high school romance. She was patient, though. She'd waited her whole life to feel like he made her feel now…so she could wait a little while longer while he worked through things and, hopefully, made it to another level altogether.

Maybe she'd end up being one of those people who actually believed that good things come to those who wait.

For now she was satisfied with the kiss and the promise of the night to come. She was satisfied to know that though they weren't going to label it, they were going to be together…and that Daryl wasn't ashamed of her and wasn't ashamed to admit to the others in their group that he was with her.

Those were big things and she could be happy with that.

When Daryl pulled out of the kiss, Carol moved her head quickly forward and caught his lip with her teeth, tugging at it.

She'd meant for the move to be purely sensual, but it had made Daryl chuckle more than anything and wipe at his lip with his thumb when they broke apart. Carol smiled at him, his eyes darker than usual, not even taking into account the dim light of the cell.

"'Bout last night…" Daryl said. He cleared his throat. "I didn't 'xactly hate what happened…I mean if ya get a hankerin' ta have a go at it like that…" He broke off and then chuckled. He ran his hand through his hair and shrugged. "Fuck," he spat. "If ya ever wanta do that shit again," he said quickly, "I ain't gonna say I don't like it."

Carol chuckled at him, feeling her cheeks burn with the embarrassment of remembering how she'd basically thrown herself at him, half naked, all but demanding he fuck her against the prison wall. It embarrassed her to think that she'd done it, but apparently he hadn't thought it was all that terrible.

She nodded slightly, unable to control her blushing or the nervous smile that accompanied it.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said. "For now the cell is nice."

Daryl smirked.

"Damn sure is," he said.

Daryl leaned in and kissed her again before breaking away and getting up. Carol figured he was going to clean something he'd brought in if it hadn't been cleaned already by someone else…or maybe he was going on watch…or maybe just to walk the yard. She knew that sooner, rather than later, she'd have to make some kind of appearance to cook dinner. If she didn't, everyone would probably starve to death staring at the boxes of canned goods and the empty pot because they didn't seem to have the ability or sense of self-preservation to cook for themselves.

"Gonna go take a shower," Daryl said. "Wash off some a' this mess an' put them damn fine workin' showers we got ta use."

Carol chuckled again. The showers had been an ongoing battle to get running and keep running, but it appeared they'd worked out the kinks and they were finally going to work…that is until they stopped again.

"I could go with you," Carol said, raising her eyebrows at him but not moving to get up from the bed. She didn't know if she was going way out on a limb, but at the moment she was feeling daring.

Daryl smirked at her and hesitated a moment before scuffing his foot on the floor. He looked at her then.

"Well get'cha stuff," he said. "Ain't gonna wait 'round here all damn day while ya get'cha shit together."

Carol smiled and in disbelief that he was agreeing to an act so…_public_…got up and got her things together so that she could follow him down to the shower room and wash off the grime of their prison life together.


	42. Chapter 42

**AN: Here you go, another little chapter. I just keep writing…no matter what the show does to my feelings, I'm powering on. **

**I've decided to think of the show as just one version…just one fanfic if you will. And right now, it's a fanfic that I would not review nicely.**

**Hopefully that's not the case here. I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol waited outside the shower stall, feeling somewhat nervous. They were in the shower room alone, and there was little probability that anyone would come in there at that time for a shower, since it was a low traffic hour, but she kept glancing around, almost holding her breath that someone would come in and catch them.

It was funny because she still felt like a teenager that was sneaking around behind her parents back or something. Though she and Daryl had agreed that they were fine with everyone knowing, and though she _was_ fine with everyone knowing, there was an odd sort of nervousness that went along with the anticipation of when would come the moment that they would confirm…this…to everyone else.

Daryl was messing around, with his clothes still on, inside the stall. The shower system was up and running, but it was imperfect at best at times and he wanted to make sure that they were going to get it to function before either of them went through the effort of stripping out of their clothes in the chilly room.

The prison lacked heat and the cold was settling into the stone space with some ferocity. It was still possible not to feel like you were freezing, but Carol knew it wouldn't be long before the temperatures inside dropped to the point that chattering teeth were the norm instead of something that only came with a stint outside the walls.

Carol was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the water hiss out of the shower faucet and she heard Daryl curse lightly at something just beyond the cheap white shower curtain that divided the tiny space.

He emerged a moment later, dripping, the front of his shirt wet, and walked directly to one of the benches where their dry clothes and some of the prison towels waited. He started to strip out of his clothes in silence and Carol walked over, following his lead.

It would be the first time that Daryl saw her naked in a fairly well lighted space…and it would be the first time that she saw him as well. And the thought made her heart pound a little harder than usual.

He was out of his clothes before her, and she glanced at him, momentarily distracted by her own movements to shed her clothes.

He was perfect. His body was rock hard with muscle and Carol felt herself grow wet just looking at him. She felt her cheeks burn and quickly went back to taking off her own clothes, hoping that he wasn't going to be too sorely disappointed when he looked at her.

Daryl took the soap and shampoo they'd brought and went straight toward the stall without saying anything. Carol glanced after him, her heart aching a little at the scars that littered his back…wishing she could somehow take each and every one of them away from him.

"Ya comin'?" Daryl called finally from the stall.

Carol sighed, catching a breath and glancing down at her own body. She wasn't pleased with it in the slightest and almost wished she could borrow someone else's body to go into the space with, but there was nothing she could do.

"Yeah…" She called softly, walking toward the shower stall and pulling back the curtain enough to slip inside, almost deciding then to hold her breath until he'd passed judgment on her physical appearance.

Daryl was already under the water, apparently at ease with his nudity in front of her, though he didn't have any reason not to be so she figured that it was only suiting. He was leaned back, washing out the shampoo he'd already scrubbed into his hair, and he was holding the bottle in one hand.

When she stepped in, he passed the bottle to her nonchalantly, not looking at her, as though they'd been showering together for ages instead of like this was the first time they'd ever done this. She accepted the bottle and waited for him to finish rinsing his hair.

When he did finish, Daryl stepped out from under the sad stream of lukewarm water and shook his head almost like a dog shaking off after a bath. The water that flew off of him hit Carol and she shivered a little.

Daryl stood up straight and looked at her a moment, expressionless. Then he smirked and motioned toward the water.

"What?" He asked. "Ain't'cha gon' get on in there?"

Carol chuckled to herself and stepped under the water. Apparently this wasn't going to be a big deal. Apparently they were really just taking a shower together…as though they had showered together for a million years…and Daryl wasn't going to say anything about it or react in any way.

Carol shampooed her hair and by the time she closed her eyes and tipped her head back to let the water run down her and wash the foam down her body, she'd almost forgotten she was nervous…she'd forgotten why she'd been nervous in the first place. Daryl was in the stall, but he was waiting to the side, soap and rough prison rag in hand, waiting for his chance to wash.

Carol moaned to herself at the warmth of the water. She tried not to complain, but honestly she was tired of being cold and the water just reminded her that out from under the faucet…even though the water was only tepid according to old standards…it was freezing. She never got warm these days. She knew, though, that Daryl was freezing and waiting his turn…so she had to relinquish the warmth.

"Ya like a shower, huh?" Daryl asked, catching her attention and making her jerk her head up, water running down her face. She felt herself blush.

"I…yeah…" she said. She only realized at this moment that the moan she'd almost thought was mental had actually crept out. "It's just so cold."

Looking at him she saw him visibly shudder at the mention of the word cold and she quickly went to move, angry at herself for making him freeze as long as she had.

Daryl stepped forward and caught her shoulders with his hands, steering her back under the water. She looked at him, confused by his actions, and he smirked at her.

"Ya oughta wash first," he said. "Then ya can dry off…be warm while ya waitin'."

"What about you?" Carol asked, wrinkling her brow.

Daryl chuckled and slipped one of his hands down her back, squeezing her ass cheek in his hand and making her breath catch at the surprise of it. He pressed himself against her and she realized that despite the cold around him, he was slowly becoming aroused.

"'Bout warm myself," Daryl said with a snicker.

Carol swallowed.

"We shouldn't be in here too long," she said. "Have to conserve water."

Her voice sounded strange to her and she cleared her throat. The very act made Daryl chuckle slightly.

"I missed a couple showers here an' there," Daryl said. "Reckon I got me some make up time ta work with…'less ya don't wanna…"

Carol glanced around her at the tight space of the prison shower stall. She'd never had sex in a bathtub…she'd never had sex in a shower…she was really inexperienced at this sort of thing, and she didn't know if Daryl assumed that just because she'd been married to Ed she'd seen and done it all, but it wasn't the case at all.

"I've never done that in a shower…" she said.

Daryl glanced around the tight space, his hand running through his tangled and wet hair. He shrugged a little.

"Me neither…but shower wall or prison wall, reckon it's 'bout the same damn thing," he replied.

Carol felt her cheeks burn hot again remembering her actions outside the prison. She nodded her head slightly at Daryl and he smirked, raising his eyebrows.

The nod was enough for him apparently. He brought his lips to hers and for a moment they shared as much of the cascading water as they could. Carol gasped a little when he brought his hand to her breast, cupping it and pinching her nipple. Her breathing picked up on its own and she slipped her hand down to stroke him and make him as hard as he could be.

Daryl panted in her ear as she stroked him.

"Don't do too damn much a' that…fuck woman…want me ta get'cha off the floor or what?" Daryl growled.

Carol chuckled.

She reached up, putting a hand on either of Daryl's shoulders, and guided him back toward the shower wall. She was amazed that he hadn't said anything about her body, despite the fact that he could see it clearly now. He hadn't pointed out any of the imperfections that she was so aware of…any of the flaws that Ed counted like a man counting sheep out loud to fall asleep…he was simply acting as if there were nothing to comment on and nothing was awry.

Daryl's hands went under her and she worked to hoist herself up onto him. He stumbled at first and they both ended up moving around the space like newborn calfs before he got her up, against the wall, and finally slid into her and she rested her chin on his shoulder, wrapping around him enough to keep from sliding and injuring both of them.

From an outsider's perspective, it may very well have been the clumsiest executed shower sex in the history of all times, but Carol closed her eyes against the intense feelings it brought out in her, and when her orgasm hit her, she screamed out before she realized what she was doing and then felt embarrassed at her own reaction as Daryl came just after her, growling at her like a bear and pressing her hard into the stone wall for a moment before settling her down to put her feet on the floor again.

Carol was grateful that Daryl didn't immediately move. She stood there, not trusting her own knees for the moment, pressed against him with the wall offering to catch her should she decide to topple backwards.

His breathing was labored and her own matched it. She wasn't sure if they stood there a moment or an hour, his arms around her and hers around him, caught in something of a hug until they finally pulled apart and Daryl plucked the rag and soap off the partition wall that was waiting on them.

There wasn't any conversation as they washed and Carol didn't really know what they would say if they did speak at the moment. It would seem odd to thank each other…and it would seem odd to move on to some mundane topic when her body was still tingling from their coming together…so it seemed somehow appropriate that they washed in silence before Daryl turned off the shower and they both made the mad dash in the even colder feeling air toward their towels and their clothes.

As Carol stood, drying off quickly to wrestle into her clothes, her back to the door and Daryl in front of her, equally focused on his own drying, there came footsteps and a voice that made her heart nearly jump into her throat for a moment.

"Heard the yellin'…" the voice drawled. "Weren't no Walker, I see."

Carol turned quickly, instinctively covering herself as best she could with the undersized prison towel. Merle Dixon stood, leaning against one of the shower stall partitions, a toothpick caught in the corner of his mouth.

Carol couldn't think of what to do, but she was starkly aware of her nudity. She didn't have much time to react, though, because Daryl shoved her quickly into the shower stall nearest them and thrust her clothes at her, his own nudity apparently not of his concern.

"Get the fuck out!" Daryl yelled.

Merle chuckled.

Inside the shower stall, Carol quickly finished drying off and wrestled into her clothes, peeking out of the curtain to see that Daryl was dressing, but apparently Merle hadn't followed his brother's commands and gotten out of the room yet.

"Hell, brothah!" Merle said. "They let me out on good behavior an' I come lookin' for my innocent lil' baby brothah an' hear some damn screamin'…figurin' people's gettin' torn ta fuckin' pieces…an' ya white ass is in here stark ass naked with the lil' mouse from back at camp."

Merle clucked at his brother and then chuckled again.

"Come on outta ya cave, Mouse…sos I can see ya," Merle said.

Carol continued to peek out, but didn't come out yet, not knowing exactly what might happen between the brothers at the moment. Daryl was dressed now, though not entirely dry, and was scrubbing at his hair with the towel that was likely already soaked through from the act of trying to dry his body.

"She ain't gotta come out if she don't wanna…an' what the fuck ya still doin' in here ya fuckin' peepin' Tom?" Daryl shot at his brother.

Carol heard Merle's heavy footsteps on the floor and echoing off the walls and she almost gasped when his face suddenly appeared in the crack that she was peeking through.

Merle chuckled, his face inches from hers.

"Looks like Mouse here's the peepin' Tom," Merle said. "Come on outta there, girly…ole Merle don't bite…not 'less he's asked to."

Carol straightened herself up, her wet towel balled up in her arm and making her shirt damp. She pushed back the curtain and pushed past Merle, slipping back out into the open floor and casting a glance at Daryl now that she could see him more quickly.

His face was scrunched up in frustration or irritation and she was trying to read if it was simply because Merle was there, or if it was because he had caught them sooner rather than later.

Merle turned around and leaned against the partition beside the stall that she'd been hiding in while she dressed.

He chuckled again.

"The Mouse, huh?" He asked, looking at Daryl.

"Stop callin' her a fuckin' mouse," Daryl said. "She's gotta damn name."

Merle hummed and smiled at Carol. She suddenly felt like a mouse who was face to face with a cat. She didn't really fear Merle…at least not physically. She doubted he'd make any move to so much as touch her with Daryl there…but there was something about him that could make you uneasy.

"Last time I seen ya," Merle said. "Ya was all scared a' ya own damn shadow, Mouse…had'ja a husband then…now ya corruptin' my baby brothah? Or is he corruptin' you?"

"Asshole's dead," Daryl said. "An' I reckon ya was gonna find out sooner or damn later. Can't mind ya own fuckin' business. What the hell ya gotta say 'bout it no way?"

Merle turned toward Daryl then, chuckling again.

"Easy, brothah. I ain't gettin' in the way of ya lil' Mouse here," Merle said. "Just tryin' ta talk ta her."

"Maybe we should talk somewhere else," Carol offered, finally finding her voice and realizing that this entire encounter was taking place in the shower room. It felt, for whatever reason, a little strange to be standing there while their whole secret was revealed.

"Ain't nothin' to talk about," Daryl said quickly. "Reckon we grown ass people. Don't owe Merle no damn explanation."

Merle chuckled again.

"I always wondered when the hell ya was gonna find ya a piece ya liked," Merle said. He gnawed his lip and looked back at Carol. She tried not to let her face contort to show her disgust at him. "Never woulda thought it'd be the Mouse, though. Ya like it, Daryl?"

"Asshole," Daryl grumbled.

Carol didn't have time to say anything or really think anything else. Daryl collected up what was left from the shower and walked right past Merle, next to her. He pushed gently at her shoulder and she took it as her cue that they were leaving. She didn't ask any questions since she was grateful for the escape from the strange situation.

Carol walked ahead of Daryl, out of the shower rooms and quickly back through the prison. She tried to ignore the fact that they had to pass right through the common area where Glenn was sitting with Beth who had Judith and Hershel was resting.

Carol didn't speak, embarrassed by being caught by Merle and still not entirely sure how Daryl was handling things, a few steps behind her. She ducked quickly into her cell and wondered if Daryl would keep on walking, back to his perch, or if he'd follow her.

She got her answer only seconds later when Daryl came in, visibly brooding, and threw his towel and dirty clothes at the corner of her cell where her dirty clothes lie. He clunked the bottle of shampoo down on the small dresser in her room, the soap going down with it and sliding off onto the floor.

Carol tossed her clothes in the pile too and tried to figure out what to say. Daryl was gnawing at his lip with some ferocity and only stopped a second later to replace it with his thumb.

"I'm sorry," Carol offered, figuring he was bothered that they got caught so quickly after discussing things.

"Fuck," Daryl spat suddenly. "I'm sorry…fuckin' brother's a fuckin' pig."

Carol didn't respond at first, still not exactly sure what to say to make the situation better if it could be made better.

"If it bothers you…" she started.

Daryl glanced at her, stilling his chewing on his thumb.

"Hell yeah it bothers me," Daryl said. "Fucker ain't got no right ta be callin' ya a fuckin' mouse…an' he knew what the hell he was doin' comin' in there just tryin' ta get a fuckin' look at'cha!"

Carol stopped, backing up a moment. She chuckled as realization started to flood over her. She wrinkled her brow.

"Daryl, are you upset because Merle found out about us? Or because he saw me?" Carol asked.

Until this moment she'd been so worried about Daryl's reaction that she'd completely forgotten the fact that Merle would have gotten at least a little bit of a look at her before she'd been covered.

Daryl looked at her, still slightly irritated, and then his expression changed to one she hadn't seen before. He almost looked at her like he was expecting her to scold him or something, or like he'd done something terribly wrong.

"I just don't like him makin' fun of ya an' I don't want him lookin' at'cha…" Daryl said.

Carol smiled and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Daryl, the dampness of both of them between them.

"I told you that Merle's making fun isn't going to bother me," Carol said. "And I'm sure he didn't see much of anything."

Carol looked up at Daryl who was staring at her. She reached her hand up and brought his face down to bring their lips together. She smiled into the kiss when Daryl's tongue darted into her mouth to tangle with hers.

"Don't want nobody lookin' at'cha," Daryl said when he pulled away.

Carol smiled before putting on her best angry face, though she knew it wasn't very convincing since she couldn't swallow the smile entirely.

"Now if I'm supposed to agree that no one else can see me naked," she said, "are you saying that means it doesn't bother you that Merle knows _you're_ seeing me?"

Daryl made a face at her, obviously pensive, and then he chuckled slightly. He shrugged a little.

"Hell…I ain't really even thought about it," he said. "But I don't give one hot damn that Merle knows…hell…I don't care that nobody knows."

Carol smiled and brought his head back down to hers, pushing her body against him as he kissed her this time. Maybe he wasn't caught in some teenage romance…or if he was, maybe it wasn't going to take him long to progress from here.

She was strangely flattered that Daryl had realized not only that it wasn't going to be some kind of terrible thing that others knew about them, but also that he was much more bothered by the fact that Merle might have seen her naked than he was about the fact that his brother now knew about whatever kind of relationship this was that they were attempting to stumble through.

"If you don't care then," Carol said, "I guess I'll do my best to keep anyone else from seeing me…"

Daryl smiled and squeezed her against him playfully.

"Never fuckin' liked that sharin' shit…" He said.

Carol squeezed him back, enjoying the playful squeezing almost as much as the more sensual hugging done in the shower earlier.

"Well if you don't want to share," Carol said, "then I can tell you that you won't have to share me. But I don't like sharing either…"

"Damn," Daryl hissed, his voice lighter. "Lotta fuckin' women 'bout to be pretty damn sore about that shit."

Carol pinched him before he squeezed her again and kissed the top of her head. They'd have to tell everyone now, but she didn't mind in the slightest. Label or not, she was with the man she loved…and it looked like she was keeping her best friend too. She couldn't have been happier.


	43. Chapter 43

**AN: A little something more here to move the story along. **

**I wanted to put in here that I've had a sort of "vision" for this story that's going to extend it beyond where I originally thought it was going to end. That means that it's probably going to be a pretty long and pretty involved story. If you know me…you're probably not too surprised. **

**I also wanted to say that I am/will be taking characters at least somewhat OOC as suits my needs. I feel almost ridiculous saying that, honestly, since the television show so frequently changes characters here and there to suit their needs that you almost have to point to a specific moment of a specific episode in a specific season to explain what you personally would like to consider "in character" for someone. Still, I'll just say they can be OOC because people are all over the place about what they think is and isn't in character. That means I'm going to reserve the right to change things about them to fit my will from time to time.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl didn't pretend for a moment that he didn't know why Merle had insisted only a bit after returning to Carol's cell, that they take a little walk around the prison yard despite the chilly weather. He walked along in silence beside his brother, still feeling odd at having him there…and even more bothered that he knew the conversation his brother was working up to.

Daryl decided to start talking first, about what interested him more at the moment, to get the ball rolling since neither of them had ever been great at starting any kind of profound conversation.

"What about this Governor fella?" Daryl asked. "Reckon he's gonna come after us?"

Merle grunted, keeping pace with Daryl as they walked aimlessly.

"He's comin' alright," Merle said. "Ya can bet'cha lily white ass on it. 'Specially now that Midnight's admitted she went an' fucked with him. He'da come any damn way, though."

Daryl nodded his head slightly. They'd been filled in on the Governor well enough to know that the man's specific strategy in this whole end of the world affair was to try to accumulate all that he could to keep his little town running. That meant wiping out any groups that he could find, true threats or not, and taking what they had. The people he incorporated into his town, far fewer now than in the beginning, were generally "strays" at best and came one at a time instead of in clumps that he might consider as having something that he wanted.

"What'cha reckon we oughta do about it?" Daryl asked.

His brother could be an asshole, and no one in the world knew that more than Daryl, but Daryl also knew that his brother wasn't a bad man deep down. He'd been in some bad situations and life had dealt him a shitty hand once or twice. He was narrow minded and he mouthed off too often and that had landed him in a number of bad spots…one of which cost him his right hand...but Merle Dixon wasn't a _bad _man.

Daryl trusted his brother's instincts too, even more than he liked to admit. For all the credit people in the group gave him for his tracking and for his ability, if it actually existed, to reason things out, he knew that Merle was superior in a lot of ways.

Merle grunted at the question.

"Ain't much we can do," Merle said. "Either way we down for a fight. We can go after him or wait for him to fuckin' come ta us, but we gon' fight…an' we prob'ly gon' lose."

"Hell," Daryl responded. "Ya so damn quick ta count us out?"

Merle chuckled.

"Man's got a lotta damn people in that fuckin' town," Merle said. "An' don't a damn one of 'em mean shit ta him more than what he can use 'em for. What the fuck we got? We ain't no damn better off than takin' the fuckin' lil' Rascals out against the fuckin' army a' the damn U.S. of A at this point."

Daryl had to admit that from what he'd heard he doubted their ability to win in some kind of medieval hand to hand combat against the numbers that the Governor's town boasted. Merle and Michonne both had spoken of weapons that the man had and that surely meant a loss if it came down to that because their own group had a couple of boxes of assorted ammo, but nothing that was exciting by any stretch of the imagination. Daryl couldn't imagine that if they hit their mark every time they had even enough ammo to wipe out everyone the Governor might bring. On top of that, if the man was as ruthless as they suggested, which Daryl didn't doubt he was, then there was a pretty good chance he wasn't going to play fair.

"What if we get the hell outta here?" Daryl asked. He hated the idea of leaving the prison, and he knew that Rick would fight the idea tooth and nail, but if it was going to come down to running or being slaughtered like lambs, he figured running was the best option.

Merle chuckled.

"Fuck, Daryl," Merle said. "Bastard's gonna find us wherever the fuck we go…sends out scouts an' shit lookin' for people an' he's gon' have him a special spot for Midnight, ya can bet'cha ass on that too. Long as she's with us, we ain't never gon' outrun him…an' even when she's fuckin' dead we ain't got but 'bout half a chance a' him not comin' after our asses."

Daryl sighed.

"So if it's so damn hopeless," Daryl said. "Do we go after him or wait for him ta come ta us?"

Merle shrugged a little, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Six a' one, half dozen a' the other," Merle said. "Reckon if we go after him we get ta pick the fuckin' day we prob'ly gonna die."

"Fuck, Merle," Daryl spat. "Why don't we just go an' kill the fucker? You an' me? Take fuckin' Michonne? Snipe his damn ass in the middle a' the fuckin' night an' be done with this shit?"

Merle grunted.

"Could do that," Merle said. "But it could just be a fuckin' suicide run…his men are mostly brainwashed inta thinkin' the fucker's the right kinda guy."

Daryl thought about it and his stomach churned. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on with his head, but he was thinking he might almost be willing to risk a suicide run if it meant he'd never come here…if it meant he'd never attack them…if it meant that nothing would happen to the people that he cared about…especially Carol.

He wouldn't have dared to say that to his brother, though, for the merciless teasing he'd have to endure for even having such a thought as a fleeting thing. He let the conversation trail off, knowing full well that he and Merle weren't going to be the ones to have the final say in this anyway. Ultimately it was always Rick that made the decisions…even when he said he was sick of making decisions…somehow he always jumped in and did it when he saw that someone was going to take him seriously and decide something without him.

"We'll have ta see what Rick says," Daryl offered.

Merle grunted again.

"Officer friendly," Merle mused. "Might watch out he don't fuckin' up an' leave in the middle a' the night."

Daryl didn't respond, but he did hiss a little at his brother. He knew that Merle wasn't crazy about Rick, but he didn't know what to do to fix the problem. Merle blamed Rick for him losing his hand, and he blamed him for being left in Atlanta, and once Merle had set blame for something, it was hard to get him to change his mind.

"Rick's done OK by the group," Daryl offered.

Merle chuckled.

"Yeah…I hear he has," Merle said, his voice sounding ironically amused. "Best not tell him what the hell I said 'bout Midnight or he'll dump her ass some damn where…head on from here draggin' who the hell he can behind…who the hell he can dump when the time comes for dumpin'."

Daryl glanced at his brother.

"Rick ain't like that," Daryl said. "He wouldn't up an' leave an' dump her ass out."

Merle chuckled again.

"Ya keep tellin' yaself that, brother," Merle said. "Officer Friendly done pulled the damn wool over ya eyes. He's got him a right good track record, I reckon. Sure as shit left my ass."

Merle was quiet for a moment and Daryl didn't respond, not sure what to say.

"Ya got left on that fuckin' roof 'cause ya was bein' an ignorant asshole," Daryl offered. He'd heard the story more than once about what had happened. What had led to Merle being handcuffed to the roof and why the hell they hadn't been able to unlock the cuffs that had held him hostage there.

Merle chuckled again.

"Yeah…but ya pal Rick…he always gon' choose one over the other… sure as shit dropped Andrea like her ass was on fire," Merle said.

Daryl rolled his eyes in Merle's direction. They knew now that Andrea was at Woodbury. They knew that she had been picked up somehow by Michonne after they'd left the farm and they knew that Michonne had parted company with her in the Governor's little town because she was having some sort of affair with him and didn't want to get out when Michonne and Alice had split from there.

"Didn't mean ta leave her ass," Daryl said. "Thought she was dead."

"Hmmm…" Merle responded.

Daryl gnawed at his lip. The situation with Andrea was one that bothered him, he had to admit.

"'Sides," Daryl said. "We went back for ya ass…Rick went back too. All the fuck ya had ta do was stay put."

"Mmmm," Merle hummed. "Ya came back for me. How damn long ya reckon ya'd have stayed there, Daryl? Cuffed ta a fuckin' roof with them damn snarlin' fuckers hangin' just outside the fuckin' door? Hung out there like fuckin' bait…not knowin' ya ass was gonna come the fuck for me…not trustin' ya fuckin' friend Rick ta even fuckin' tell ya that I was out there on that roof."

"We went back for ya," Daryl repeated, not having much more of an argument to offer.

"Didn't go back for Andrea, did'ja?" Merle asked.

"Thought she was dead," Daryl repeated.

He'd suggested they go back for Andrea. He'd at least wanted to verify she was dead, one way or the other, instead of just assuming it and moving on, but Rick had said they should move on. A herd that size was one she surely wouldn't survive. A herd that size they all might not survive unless they moved to try to outrun it, so that's what the hell they'd done. They'd figured Andrea for dead and left her behind…but she'd survived the herd.

"Woulda left Carol too, that night," Daryl said, somewhat quietly. "I got her, though…heard her screamin'…they was already gone, but I heard her an' I got her."

"Mmmm…" Merle hummed again. "I see ya did."

The conversation fell into a lull for the moment and Daryl thought over what his brother had said…thought over other things that had been said here and there.

"How long ya been fuckin' the Mouse, boy?" Merle asked suddenly after a few moments of silence.

"What's it fuckin' matter to ya?" Daryl asked.

Daryl had always known that his brother had a very keen interest in what he was and wasn't doing with his dick. Merle was a womanizer himself. He had so many girls and women in his life that keeping count would have been damn near impossible. Daryl doubted Merle could even make an educated guess at how many women he'd fucked here or there along the way.

And Merle had always kind of thought that Daryl would follow in his footsteps. Though Daryl had a few fucks under his belt, he never had the same interest in it that Merle had. He never enjoyed it the way the Merle had. He'd never liked fucking some woman whose name he didn't know or who wouldn't even remember that they'd rolled around together. It just wasn't his thing.

It had always driven Merle crazy and he'd ribbed Daryl about it his whole damn life…or at least since he'd shown even the first signs of puberty. Daryl didn't know why he wasn't like Merle, but he figured they were just wired differently and that's all the hell there was to it.

"Easy, Derlina," Merle taunted, his voice lighter than before. "Just tryin' ta find out if ya been hittin' that pussy long term or if just a taste done ya in the fuckin' shower today. No fuckin' reason ta get'cha panties bunched up."

"Don't call her a pussy," Daryl challenged.

Merle chuckled.

"Ya 'bout ta tell me some sweet lil' love poems 'bout'cha fuckin' Mouse, Daryl?" Merle questioned.

Daryl didn't know what to say. He didn't even really know what to call what he felt about Carol. He was afraid to say, especially out loud, that he loved her. He wasn't sure if he did and even if he thought he did, he wasn't sure that she felt the same way about him. He wasn't positive that anyone could feel the same way about him.

Merle chuckled.

"Hell…ya just fuckin' the Mouse or ya gonna tell me that a damn Dixon done gone an' fell in fuckin' love?" Merle asked.

Daryl gnawed at his lip.

"We ain't talked 'bout none a' that shit yet, OK?" Daryl said. "Hell, we just decided we was gonna tell people an' ya fuckin' caught us in the damn shower like the nosy ass motherfucker ya are."

Merle chuckled again.

"My baby brother," Merle mused. "I knew ya was gonna be the fuckin' kind ta fall the fuck in love. The Mouse, though, Daryl? She really ya flavor?"

Daryl didn't know the answer to that exactly. It wasn't like he could say he'd shopped around like his brother had, but he hadn't ever felt about a woman the way that he felt about Carol…and the way that he felt about Carol made him think that he didn't give a damn if there were even any other women left on the planet.

"Shut the fuck up," Daryl responded. It had been a go to answer between him and his brother for his entire life, and both of them knew that it equated to being what one said when one didn't know what the fuck else to say.

Merle chuckled again, taking far too much amusement in this for Daryl's liking.

"Easy boy, ain't no one talkin' 'bout snatchin' ya pussy away," Merle said. "Though if ya was just tryin' her out, she ain't a bad damn piece…lil' bland, but I reckon it'd do for a little ruttin'."

Daryl turned around and punched his brother hard in the shoulder. He almost threw him off balance since Merle clearly wasn't anticipating the attack. When Merle straightened up, keeping himself from staggering too far at the blow, he looked angry for a second and then his face melted into the harassing amusement that annoyed Daryl so much and had gotten under his skin for as long as he could remember knowing Merle.

"Damn, Daryl, ya do have a thing for the Mouse!" Merle exclaimed. "Well alright, brother. Now ya gotta find ya fuckin' nutsack an' admit it."

Daryl glared at his brother.

"That why ya saved her an' not Andrea?" Merle asked after a moment. "How long ya been fuckin' her? Was her fuckin' husband even cold?"

Daryl glared at Merle again.

"Her fuckin' husband was cold long 'fore his ass died," Daryl said. "An' I saved her 'cause I knew she was out there. I'da fuckin' saved Andrea too if I knowed she weren't dead. Wouldn'ta left neither one of 'em for the damn Walkers."

"Long damn time?" Merle asked.

Daryl growled.

"No! I…don't even know how long…not no long damn time," Daryl said.

"So ya fell fuckin' hard, fuckin' fast?" Merle asked. When Daryl didn't respond he chuckled again. "Always thought'cha was the type boy. Figured it was gonna happen sooner or later."

"The type?" Daryl asked.

Merle nodded.

"Some men, Daryl, like me…we fuck when we wanta…like fuckin' deer we fuck whatever doe crosses our paths…ya more like some kinda dove or some shit. Mate for fuckin' life. Looks like ya got'cha a fuckin' Mouse…hope ta hell ya like it," Merle said.

Daryl wanted to be pissed at his brother. He wanted to punch him again for giving him a hard time, but something in his brother's voice told him that Merle wasn't really giving him a hard time. There was something of sincerity there.

Daryl nodded his head a little.

"Mate for life, huh?" Daryl asked.

Merle grinned.

"Might oughta tell her that," Merle said. "Could be a pretty short damn life, though…if the damn Governor comes a knockin'. Best get what the hell ya can."

Daryl gnawed his lip. He couldn't be positive his brother was right, and he wasn't sure if he'd feel more ridiculous discussing the idea of mating for life with Merle as he was now or if he'd feel more ridiculous bringing the theory up to Carol who may have very different ideas, but he really couldn't say that he hated the idea of calling Carol his for now…and for always.

What he did know, though, was that the mention of the Governor brought chills to him again. No matter what they had to do, he was going to do his damnedest to make sure that the man wasn't going to get his hands on Carol. He'd feared that she was dead and lost to him once, and he didn't intend to lose her again…especially not because of some asshole who called himself the Governor.


	44. Chapter 44

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter for you all. I'm beginning to start directing things toward the plans that I have in mind…some of the story you'll have seen before (like a little bit of it), but probably most of it's going to be my own attempt at writing something entertaining. Fingers crossed. **

**I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! **

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"We can't go in there, guns blazing and attack the man," Rick argued.

Everyone had gathered together to more or less discuss the potential problems that might arise with their newly learned about neighbor. Whether or not they were going to "go to the Governor" or wait for him to "come to them" seemed to be the biggest argument, though few people were doing as much participating as they were simply listening.

"He might not even bother us. We don't know that he has some personal vendetta against us. He doesn't have a reason to want to attack us," Rick said, pacing a little before sitting once more in the rickety chair that he'd pulled into the poorly formed circle to serve as his seat.

Merle chuckled, sitting backwards in his chair, his hand resting on the metal contraption that served to hold the bayonet like attachment that he wore from time to time.

"He don't gotta have a reason, Officer Friendly, ain't the damn way the man works," Merle offered.

Carol sat to the side, mostly quiet, and tending Rick's daughter who was napping in her arms. She wasn't sure that the conversation was one that she could really weigh in on for any one side. She understood the arguments that everyone had thrown into the mix for what they were worth.

"So we go, without reason, and attack him?" Rick asked.

Glenn glared at Merle openly before addressing the group that was gathered and Carol wondered if he, along with perhaps Alice and Michonne, hated that to some degree they were backing Merle in the discussion though each of them had their own reasons to be against Daryl's brother as well.

"He was part of torturing me," Glenn offered. "He…he messed with Maggie."

Carol glanced at Maggie. The woman hadn't spoken in any great detail about what had happened when she'd been taken by the Governor. She'd loudly assured Glenn, and therefore most everyone in the prison had heard the fact echo about whether they'd wanted to or not, that the man didn't rape her, but anything short of that was a possibility.

"He's a bad man," Maggie said, her voice coming out softly. She was looking off into space, over Rick's shoulder somewhere. She wasn't sold on fighting on either side of this discussion, that was evident. It was more that she was there, destined to accept whatever fate was chosen for her.

Really, Carol thought, that's what it would come down to for most of them. They'd throw out their arguments in one of the so called group discussions…they'd had plenty of them before…but then there would be an ultimate decision made and everyone would simply have to go along with it. The same had happened when they wanted to kill Randall back at the farm, and though the situation was different, the way the decisions were made wouldn't be so terribly different.

Rick rubbed his face.

"I admit that what he did was wrong…and we all revenge on him for it…but if we go there…if we just bust into this town," Rick broke off and looked at Alice. "Didn't you say there innocent people there?"

Rick looked at Michonne who was somewhat sulking and leaning against the wall, her feet up in the chair she was sitting in.

"Didn't you say that there were people there who didn't know what he was like? What he was about?" Rick asked.

Alice shrugged in response and Michonne didn't so much as move a muscle to reply to Rick's questions.

Rick sighed and looked at Melodye, the mellow counterpart to Alice.

"Did you know that the Governor was killing people or taking people hostage?" Rick asked.

Melodye glanced a moment at Alice and Alice nodded softly at the blonde. Melodye shifted in her seat a little uncomfortably before shaking her head lightly.

"How was I supposed to know that?" She asked. "If…before I found Alice…if I'd have been asked who the real monster was…I would have said it was you, Rick. You were the monster. We came here first, and we would have never even found Woodbury, but you acted like you were going to kill us. You had us thrown out. The people from my old group…Ben, Tyreese, Sasha…they were all good people. All we wanted was somewhere safe to be."

"And they're still in Woodbury?" Rick asked, though it was difficult to tell if it was meant to be a question or a declarative statement due to his intonation. He immediately rested his head in his hand a second before swiping his fingers across his forehead.

"Well…yes," Melodye responded. "I didn't exactly pack and say my farewells the night that I came here."

Merle growled low in his throat, a sound that caught Carol's attention and turned her head. She'd heard the same sound from Daryl, though it was a little more menacing coming from the older Dixon.

"He sent me out," Merle said, "to kill the damn ninja there an' Dr. Jeckyl here. He's gonna go lookin' for Lil' Bo Peep an' the Chinaman too," Merle said, gesturing about. "He's gonna come lookin' for me too, Rick…just a matter a' time. He's gonna want me dead…gonna want 'em all dead…every last damn one a' us…and he's gonna find out it's just a fuckin' Thanksgivin' bonus when he figures out that we all in the same damn place, just sittin' pretty an' waitin' on his ass. He knows about the prison."

"So we just go to this town, full of unsuspecting people and start killing them?" Rick asked. "That's not who we are and that's not what we do."

"Don't think we talkin' 'bout walkin' through the front gates," Daryl threw in, glancing in Merle's direction and then back at Rick. "Talkin' 'bout somethin' a lil' bit more…"

His voice trailed off.

"Covert?" Hershel offered.

Daryl glanced at the old man, gnawing at his lip, and nodded his head. Carol looked at Hershel, trying to get a read on what the man might be thinking about the whole thing, but other than looking tired he looked pretty much expressionless at the moment.

The entire idea was a lot to take in. Walkers were a threat, and other people had always been a possible threat, but it was a whole other idea to think that some crazed man and his army of people might descend on the prison and try to kill them.

Rick sighed.

"So what? We go in the middle of the night? Like thieves?" He chuckled. "Like murderers?"

Everyone shot uncomfortable glances at one another and Carol felt like the tension in the room was thick enough that it could be cut with a knife. It wasn't an easy decision to make. They knew that Glenn and Maggie had been taken…and that Merle had done the taking…but to use that as a reason to attack this man was to assume that Merle was telling the truth and he was acting duress. Merle claimed to have attempted to kill Michonne and Alice under the man's orders as well, but again, that was taking Merle's word for it.

Beyond that they knew that Maggie had been…_questioned_…by the man who called himself the Governor. They knew that Alice had thought things weren't on the up and up from her view. They knew what Michonne said she'd seen and they knew what she suspected.

But it didn't mean it was going to be an easy decision to take that information and turn it into a reason to go trekking through the woods in the middle of the night on an assassination mission that would take out anyone, in addition to the Governor, that needed to be killed to keep the mission from being thwarted.

"What about the innocent people who fall into it? What if they're killed? Melodye, the members of your old group, do you want their blood on your hands?" Rick asked.

Melodye looked at Alice and Alice just responded by reaching a hand out and squeezing the upper part of the blonde's arm.

Rick chuckled, but it was an ironic chuckle at best.

"What about Andrea?" Rick asked, glancing at Michonne. By now Merle had more than taken the lid off of the secret that there was some sort of relationship between the two of them, and though no one knew _all_ the details, they could fill in a lot of the gaps.

Michonne shrugged slightly.

"She made her choice," Michonne said. She tipped her head to the side. "If she's still alive after I was there…if he didn't kill her just for knowing me…he'll kill her eventually."

"Just like ever' damn one a' us," Merle said. "We get him or he gets us…that's the name a' the game. But when he comes for us he ain't comin' alone an' we ain't got the numbers ta stand against him, even if that damn baby could fire a gun."

"He might not come," Rick said, stressing his words and gesturing as though he might want to choke Merle for not agreeing with him. "We can lay low…we can leave him alone. We don't have anything for him and we don't have any reason for him to bother us."

The growl issued forth from Merle again, but without words this time. An amused expression crossed his face, but he simply shook his head slightly.

"We're not murderers," Rick said. "We're not cold blooded killers."

_Except when we have to be, _Carol thought, remembering the situation with Randall. Remembering that it had been Rick along with others who were ready to hang the boy…shoot him…leave him for dead because he might find his camp and bring people back to attack them.

Then they'd been talking about taking the life of a twenty year old boy who might bring back people that could cause harm to them…a twenty year old boy that Rick, Glenn, and Hershel had brought to their camp and saved.

Now they were talking about sneaking in under the cover of the night and killing a grown man…Carol couldn't imagine how old he might be. Forty? Older or younger than that? They were talking about killing a grown man that they had, even if it wasn't the most reliable informant ever, reason to suspect _was_ going to bring people to them…people who had the order to kill them.

Carol turned her attention back to the baby in her arms, trying not to think about it too much. This wasn't her call. Ultimately she wouldn't be the one that decided this. She hadn't been the one that had decided Randall's fate…she'd asked to be left out of it even though Dale had said that it still made her a guilty party by remaining silent…and she wasn't going to be the one to decide if they went after this man or waited for him to come after them.

"If we go after him," Merle said. "Me an' Daryl…"

"I'm coming too," Michonne interrupted quickly. Merle looked at her, smirked and nodded his head, pardoning the interruption.

"If we go after him, we got a chance at killin' him," Merle said. "If he comes after us…we ain't got a damn snowball's chance in hell at gettin' at him."

"Rick may be right," Hershel offered. "He may not even decide to bother with us. If he's got a town like you say…that many people…then why would he be so fixated on a group of our size? We're hardly a threat to anybody."

Merle sucked his teeth, casting his eyes over everyone and finally letting them settle on Daryl who was apparently doing anything in his power not to look at his brother for the moment.

Merle chuckled again.

"Alright then," he said. "Reckon it's settled. If you fine people would excuse me, I'm goin' ta get some shut eye. Wanta be bright eyed an' bushy tailed when the ole reaper comes a' callin'."

Merle didn't say anything else before exiting the common area, his boots echoing loudly on the concrete floor as he made his way toward the cell that he'd claimed as his own since they'd agreed to let him out of his holding cell on good behavior.

"Anyone else?" Rick asked.

Carol glanced around but it looked like the majority of the group had taken a keen interest in their shoes at the moment and she wondered if a lot of them felt like she did. It was a decision that she didn't know how to make. It was something that she didn't know the right answer to. Both sides had their pros and their cons.

"If we attack him, and he wans't going to attack us," Melodye offered, "then we're the guilty ones."

"And if we let him live long enough to kill us, then we'll never know the difference," Michonne tossed at her. "He's coming," she said, turning her attention toward Rick and nodding her head affirmatively.

Carol felt her heart jump a little. There was something about when the woman spoke, even though she didn't know her all that well, that made her feel like she absolutely knew what she was talking about. Carol imagined she could have been a very good salesperson in a previous life because she'd have bought nearly anything the woman was selling.

"We lay low," Rick said after a moment, "for a few days. We keep people posted on watch…we look for any indication that something might happen. He might not come. He might just leave us alone and worry about everything else he's got to do as a Governor. We're not assassins."

Michonne got up from her chair then and she left the room quietly. In contrast to Merle's clomping sounds that had echoed back from his movement, there was barely a sound to indicate that the woman who'd been sitting there had ever even been in the room at all.

Carol glanced at Alice who was sitting backwards in her chair, her elbows propped on the low back of it and her fingers threaded into her hair. The woman audibly sighed and then stood up, nodding at everyone else before starting toward the staircase toward the upper level with Melodye walking silently behind her, not even bothering to look at any of the others.

"Glenn? Daryl?" Rick asked, glancing back and forth between them.

"We're not killers…" Glenn said, audibly swallowing. "We're not killers…and I don't know that he's coming…but that doesn't keep part of me from wanting him to pay…"

"So you think it would make you feel better to kill him in his sleep?" Rick asked. "If we don't have the ammunition and the manpower to face him here, we don't have enough to face him on his turf."

"'Less he don't see us comin'," Daryl offered. He shrugged slightly and glanced back at Glenn, but Carol noticed that when his head faced her direction he dropped his eyes, obviously not wanting to make contact with her at the moment.

Rick nodded.

"So you think we should sniper him?" Rick asked.

Daryl shrugged. "Don't know, man…ain't no easy answers," he responded.

Carol sighed to herself. That was the truth of the matter these days. There weren't any easy answers. No matter which way they went, they stood a chance to do the wrong thing and they stood a chance to pay for that wrong decision with their lives. It was like Russian roulette with only one empty chamber instead of one bullet. You had a chance to do hit it the right way…you had a chance for a positive outcome…but the odds weren't in your favor at all.

And honestly, up to this point, Carol wasn't exactly sure how much she could say luck had or hadn't been on the side of anyone present.

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Carol slid into bed finally, blowing out the lamp as she did so. Daryl was lying on his side, so she lie on her side facing him in the darkness.

She was still amazed that he was there…in her bed…entirely unapologetic to anyone, not that anyone had exactly requested an apology. No one had really seemed to even bat an eye at the realization that they were openly together…in some sort of relationship…and there had even been very little of the teasing that he'd seemed to fear, especially in light of all that they were facing.

Carol leaned in and kissed Daryl's chest softly, moving her body so she could tangle her legs with him.

She wished they didn't have to fear the Governor and his army. She wished they didn't have to fear anything. She didn't want to think about fighting and killing and everything else. All she wanted to think about for the moment was that Daryl Dixon had quietly moved himself into her cell, to share her bed, and that she felt alive for the first time in so long when she rested in his arms.

She finally felt alive…just at the moment when a madman may be out to kill them all…and the irony of it nearly broke her heart.

"Do you think that Rick made the right decision?" Carol whispered, returning her lips to Daryl's chest just after, letting her hands run across his soft skin.

Daryl sighed.

"Hell," he growled back, keeping his voice low. "Don't know if there was a damn right decision. Just hope it don't bite our asses."

The conversation had gone on for a while before Rick had finally made the decision, and no one had bothered to argue against it, that they weren't going after the Governor. They were going to keep stricter watch schedules, they were going to be on guard, they were going to devise a way to keep Beth and the children inside most of the time so that they could go on lockdown if the need be, and they were going to be ready to fight if the Governor and his men came knocking…but they weren't going after the man to sniper him in the middle of the night. They were going to take the high road on this and hope they were repaid by some divine act that would either keep him from coming at all or protect them if he did come.

"If he comes," Daryl said after a moment, "I want'cha gettin' inside with Beth an' the kids."

Carol looked at him, but she could make out nothing more than his basic outline and the glimmer of his eyes in the darkness.

"I'm not hiding in the prison, Daryl," Carol said.

Daryl didn't respond for a second and Carol thought about it. She couldn't hide in the prison. She couldn't cower in the corner with Beth, Carl, and an infant while her friends were all out there fighting. She couldn't stand to be hidden away, waiting for the sounds to stop, not knowing what she would find when she finally came out of the hole with the others. She couldn't let them fight her battles for her.

"I couldn't do that, Daryl," Carol whispered. "I couldn't let everyone fight and me not be out there with them."

Daryl reached and caught her under the chin with his finger, pulling her head up toward him and she sighed when his lips made contact with hers, soft at first, and then more demanding as his tongue requested and was granted access to her mouth.

As the kiss rolled on, one or the other of them deepening it each time they started to break, Carol could feel Daryl's interest in more pressing against her and she could feel her own self flood at the prospect of it.

She gasped, trying to get air into her lungs.

Daryl pulled away from her, lying flat on his back and shifting upward enough to free himself from his underwear. Carol understood the movement without words and slipped off her own underwear, raising herself up to straddle him.

She moved to lower herself down on him, but Daryl stopped her by grabbing her hips and she froze in the rather awkward position.

"What is it?" She asked, suddenly worried that despite the fact that she thought the signs were fairly obvious, maybe she'd misinterpreted what he wanted.

"Don't care 'bout everybody else," Daryl said softly. "Don't want'cha fightin'. Don't want somethin' ta happen to ya."

Carol let out the breath she'd been holding nervously and chuckled.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said. She knew that she couldn't promise that, but she also wasn't going to promise not to go out there and fight with everyone else. She moved then and lowered herself onto him, feeling him filling her.

Daryl moved under her and she brought her lips to his again, both of them still and connected for the moment.

Finally, Carol began to move and Daryl thrust up into her. She hoped he didn't know how inexperienced she was at this position, but if he did, he didn't say a thing about it.

She finally reached her hands up, catching the bunk above her to give herself something to hold to and also to serve to help her keep from ramming her head on the metal beams that supported the upper bunk.

She only let go when she felt her orgasm seizing her, and then she dropped forward, her hands going to Daryl's chest, while she road it out and let him finish the last thrusts he had remaining before he was caught up in his own release.

Finally it was Daryl that took her by the shoulders and helped to roll her off of him, her own body feeling so tired and relaxed at the moment that it almost didn't want to listen to her, and it was Daryl that wrapped his arms around her and snuggled her close against him, kissing her forehead.

Carol snuggled into him, breathing his scent, and closed her eyes, trying to convince herself, however foolish it might be, that since everything felt right with the world in this instant, there was no reason to believe that everything wasn't going to remain so.


	45. Chapter 45

**AN: Here you go, a little chapter.**

**It's sort of a light chapter…though I don't promise that they'll all be that way. We need them every now and again, though. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl wandered up toward the prison, stopping a moment to take a drink of water from one of the buckets of boiled water that were set out for anyone who might want it. It was cold simply from the air around it, and it was refreshing.

The prison was bustling with everyone doing their normal things. There was nothing to do with Rick's decision besides keep going as they had been and hold their breath, wondering if anything might come of the Governor.

Merle and Michonne agreed on very little, but they both agreed whole heartedly that the group had something to worry about. Rick seemed to think that two of them were overreacting. Daryl wasn't sure what he thought. He assumed that it could go either way. There was no harm in being somewhat prepared in case there was some sort of attack, but he didn't think that everyone should go about terrified and living in some heightened sense of fear.

The fear, instead of helping them, might actually hinder them if they did fall under attack. So he was fine with the fact that they were taking turns doing watch, getting water, doing inventory on their scanty amount of ammunition, and such.

Merle had gone hunting this morning and he was still out. Daryl had offered to go with him, but Merle had insisted on going alone. Daryl didn't know if his brother was out looking for the meat that was harder and harder to find these days, or if he might be up to scouting out Woodbury in some way, but he knew that Merle made up his mind about something like going into the woods alone, there was no reason to argue.

Daryl had seen Carol earlier, bustling about and working to get the evidence of breakfast cleaned up in time to get something ready for those who would want lunch. He hadn't spoken to her though, since he'd been on watch for the most of the morning. Now he didn't see her, but he knew she was around, somewhere behind the scenes perhaps.

Daryl glanced out over the yard of the prison. Someone was outside the fence…someone besides Merle…because Michonne was pacing back and forth at the fence line, an obvious move for someone who is waiting to let someone back inside and waiting to respond if there's an emergency.

Daryl started in that direction to see what was going on, and as he got closer he saw Alice slip back through the hole in the fence, a bucket in hand, while Michonne took down the couple of slow moving Walkers that had shuffled after her.

Daryl picked up his pace. He'd been wanting to talk to the woman anyway…and this was the opportunity to get her alone. It was especially a good time given the fact that Merle was out traipsing through the woods somewhere and wouldn't be able to bug him.

Daryl trotted down to Alice and she looked at him, continuing her slow walk through the yard. Daryl matched his pace with her and grabbed the handle of the bucket. She instinctively yanked it back and he chuckled.

"Calm the fuck down," he said. "I'm just gonna carry the damn thing."

"You think I can't carry it?" Alice asked.

"Somebody piss in your oatmeal this morning?" Daryl responded.

Alice stopped walking, still holding to part of the bucket handle, and Daryl quickly stopped with her, keeping a firm grasp where his hand was. She frowned at him and let go of the bucket.

"Thanks," she said, with little conviction.

"Got a thorn up ya ass or what the fuck's ya problem?" Daryl asked.

Alice shook her head before turning back toward the prison.

"Your brother's a fucking sexist pig," Alice said. "I guess his comments have me a little jumpy."

Daryl chuckled.

"Mmm…Merle's got a lotta qualities about him, that's for damn sure," Daryl said.

Alice glanced back at him.

"You're not doing anything else? You're not usually on water duty," Alice said.

"Just got off watch. Thought'cha might need a hand…and I wanted ta bend ya ear," Daryl said.

"Did you fuck things up with Carol again?" Alice asked, shading her face with her hand.

Daryl decided to ignore the question. He figured he had to forgive the brunette of being a pain in the ass sometimes since she had at least helped them work things out.

"You an' that Mel chick," Daryl said. "Ya s'posed ta be in some kinda relationship?"

Alice chuckled.

"Well…we like to pretend," she said. "Why?"

"Ya married?" Daryl asked.

Alice chuckled again.

"As much as we'll ever be…you thinking of getting married?" Alice asked.

Daryl stopped, realizing they were coming closer to the actual prison and once they got there they'd have much less of a chance of having any kind of conversation in private. When he stopped and sat the bucket down, Alice looked at him wrinkled her brow, but she stopped too, waiting for him to do something.

Daryl wasn't good at this kind of thing. He wasn't exactly a heart to heart kind of guy. He'd always talked things out with Merle…one damn way or another…but those conversations were always very straightforward.

And when Rick wanted to talk it was more that he wanted to talk about himself. He didn't really have a whole lot of interest in anything that Daryl could have said about his own life. Mostly he wanted to bend Daryl's ear and then when he had what he wanted, he would clap him on the shoulder and move on. That's how conversations worked with Rick.

So right this moment, staring at Alice…when he wasn't even sure if he was supposed to talk to her like he'd talk to Merle or talk to her more delicately like he did with Carol…he wasn't sure how to say exactly what he wanted to say. He also didn't know what response he expected.

But this wasn't a Merle conversation, and Rick wouldn't care anyway…and it was about Carol so he couldn't talk to her until he'd thought about it a bit more…the brunette was really all he had at the moment if he wanted someone to talk to about this.

Daryl fished his cigarettes out of his pocket and took one, offering Alice one before she could ask or even realize she wanted one. She took it and he lit his, offering her the light.

"If ya ain't married," Daryl said, "then ya reckon that'cha s'posed ta be together forever or y'all just doin' somethin' temporary."

Alice looked at him with her amused look.

"Well with all the more appealing options right now it's a real life struggle," Alice said, "but I guess we've stuck together this long…we might as well tough it out."

"Fuck you," Daryl said, chuckling at the face she was making and her tone of voice.

Alice laughed in response before taking a drag on the cigarette.

"Right back at you, asshole," Alice responded.

"How'd ya know ya was…" Daryl broke off. He'd been turning over what Merle had said…whether Merle had meant to say it or not…about him being a person who mated for life. He wanted to bring it up to Carol, but he didn't know exactly if he believed it or not. He didn't know how she'd respond. He just wanted to hash it out for himself a little more before he brought it up. "How'd ya know ya was interested in…ya know…bein' whatever the hell ya are for life?"

Alice's face grew more confused for a moment before she seemed to find some clarity. She shrugged.

"I don't know that it was an active decision," she said. "It wasn't like making the choice between going with the Jeep or the Ford. I mean…" She broke off like he'd asked her one of the hardest questions he could have thought of and he assumed that maybe he wasn't the only one that hadn't really thought about what might make some people be "seasonal" like Merle and some be "lifers," if indeed that's what Alice and Mel were.

Alice looked around for a second and then she looked at him again with a soft sigh.

"I guess that…I don't know. I like being with Mel…and she can't hate my sorry ass too bad because she's stuck around through some pretty serious shit. I guess that it just comes down to the fact that…" She broke off again and Daryl almost laughed at how conflicted she seemed to be over trying to figure out how to answer this question. "I guess when I thought about forever, I never thought 'oh I want to be with Mel forever,'…I guess I just thought I don't ever want to be without her."

"Ain't it the same damn thing?" Daryl asked.

Alice chuckled and took another dramatic drag on her cigarette, probably buying herself some time.

"It all comes out to the same thing," she said, "but the way I got there was a little different…maybe…than other people. Why? You haven't exactly shown a whole lot of interest in my love life since it became clear I wasn't going to snatch Carol right out of your hands."

Daryl sucked his teeth.

"Well Merle was sayin' that some people was the kind that mate for life…an' I was…" Daryl started.

Alice busted out laughing and Daryl stopped.

"Mate for life? _Mate?_ I'm _mating?_" Alice said.

Daryl stared at her, not nearly as amused as she was.

"Do you _mate_ for life? Is that what you're trying to figure out?" Alice asked.

Daryl growled at her.

"Fuck off," he said, reaching down and grabbing the bucket before flicking the almost spent cigarette off to the side.

Alice snatched back on the bucket handle and it sloshed some of the water out, but Daryl stopped in the forward movement that he was making. He turned back to her, the stupid grin still plastered across her face.

"Seriously, though," Alice said. "If you think you want to _mate_ for life with Carol then that's fucking great…and you should tell her that. She would probably love to _mate_ with you for life. Just please find some better damn words because I'm sure it wasn't the dream of every little princess that someday her prince would come and offer to _mate_ with her."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the woman.

"Since ya know so fuckin' much," he spat, "then what the fuck ya want me ta say?"

Alice snickered.

"Try that you'd like to be with her…I don't know. Even saying you'd like a long term fuck gives me less of the willies than mate," Alice said.

Her face softened then and she let go of the bucket handle but Daryl didn't move away immediately.

"I really do think it's sweet," Alice said. "And…I really think Carol's just going to think it's groovy that you want to…be whatever it is…but don't use mate, OK?"

Daryl nodded, not saying anything and started toward the prison.

"You're welcome!" Alice called behind him. "Go get 'em tiger!"

Daryl growled to himself and shook his head, not responding in any way to her.

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One of the stupid showers had sprung a leak and Daryl had spent most of his "free afternoon" fixing it while others took watch and kept an eye on the prison yard.

It was an uneventful day and nothing had happened that was worth remarking on. Merle had come back from hunting with about four squirrels and a half starved rabbit on a string. It wasn't enough for a decent meal for everyone, but Carol had turned it in to a stew and the stew was pretty good, even if it wasn't especially filling.

Merle had helped out in the shower room too. He was really more of a handy man than Daryl was and with T-Dog gone they could use someone like that around. Daryl had tried to press his brother to find out where the hell he'd been all day. He knew that even though there weren't that many animals scurrying around because they were seeking refuge from the cold, Merle probably would have brought back more than that if he'd really been out there and been dedicated to hunting all damn day long.

But Merle stuck to the story that he was hunting and that was it. He'd filled the rest of the silence by retelling Daryl some old story about some shit that had happened to him once in a bar. It was a funny story and Merle liked telling it, so Daryl had heard it at least two dozen times if he'd heard it once.

He knew that Merle was trying not to talk about things. He was trying not to talk about whatever the hell he'd been doing and he was trying not to talk about the Governor and whether or not he'd make a grand appearance. He'd already made his feelings known about it. He thought the man was coming back, he thought he'd damn near destroy all of them, and he thought they were being dumb by just sitting around and waiting for it to happen.

The shower fixed and everything else done, Daryl walked through the prison toward the cell that he now shared with Carol. Most everyone, it seemed, was asleep. Merle accompanied Daryl part of the way, but grunted something at him and steered off to the side, presumably stepping out to smoke, or either to make doubly sure that whoever was on watch was doing what they were supposed to be doing.

When Daryl came into the cell, the little lamp was burning, but Carol was already asleep. He glanced at her a moment, watching her sleep with oblivion, and figured she was probably damn tired from running herself ragged all day doing every little thing she could. She kept up with the food and anything that needed cleaning or mending. Now she was keeping up with Rick's kid most of the time too. So when she slept, she slept like she meant it.

Daryl peeled out of his clothes which were filthy and pretty soaked through from their several mishaps with the badly behaving shower. He flung them to the floor and toweled off with one of the somewhat sour smelling towels they had in the cell that had never dried properly thanks to the changing temperature. Then he dug out a clean pair of underwear and turned back toward the bed.

Daryl tried to crawl over Carol and get between her and the wall with as much grace as possible, not wanting to wake her. Once he'd gotten across her body, though, he had to lean back over her to kill the little lamp and then he settle down, climbing under the covers and scooting closer to her.

He felt her shiver, but figured her to still be asleep. He wrapped an arm around her and put his head down on the pillow, his face close enough to her to inhale her scent.

"Did you get the shower fixed?" Carol asked, her voice fuzzy.

Daryl grunted.

"For now," he said. "Go back ta sleep. They done run ya ass 'round today an' they gon' do it again tomorrow if ya give 'em half a damn chance."

Carol rubbed his hand with hers.

"I was just dozing," she said. "Not sleeping."

Daryl chuckled.

"Was snorin' like a damn lumberjack," he lied. "Reckon ya was sleepin' just fine 'less ya got a chainsaw under the damn covers."

Carol shifted, rolling over to face him, and scoffed.

"I don't snore," she said.

Daryl couldn't see her in the darkness, not really, but he felt like he knew her face well enough that he could imagine clearly exactly the face she was making at him. He snickered.

"Settle down," he said. "I won't tell nobody it's you that's keepin' the whole damn prison up."

Carol swatted him gently and he laughed, reaching out and grabbing her hard around the arms so that she dropped from her position onto the mattress without her arm to support her.

"Stop it!" She said. "We're not children…they're going to separate us if we can't act like adults."

Daryl leaned and found her face, her skin soft, with his lips. He kissed what he was certain was her forehead and then moved his own face, still not releasing her, to search out her lips. When he found them, she met him with a kiss before struggling against his bear hug until he let go.

"I'd like ta see 'em try," Daryl said. "Can't nobody make us do a damn thing."

"Mr. Big Talk, huh?" Carol teased. Daryl was sure she was wide awake now.

Daryl didn't know if it was the right moment or not to say what he wanted to say. He didn't even know if it would come out right, but he'd spent the whole time he'd been working on the showers with Merle…even when his brother was telling his stupid ass stories…trying to figure out what he was going to say, and he feared he'd lose his nerve if he waited too much longer.

"Wanta ask ya somethin'," Daryl said.

He felt Carol tense against him and he reached out a hand in the darkness to rub what he was almost certain was her arm. He didn't want to think about why she seemed to react badly to things…why it seemed like a trained response…before she even knew what the hell they were.

"What?" She asked, her voice softer than before.

Daryl sucked his teeth.

"Do ya think that…well…" Daryl stopped. All of his words, every single one that he'd practiced a dozen times in the shower room, were getting all jammed up inside him. All he could think of now was the gist of what he wanted to say…what he wanted to know…and the fact that he needed to avoid the word mate. "How long ya wanna do this shit?" Daryl spat, immediately groaning to himself when he heard the words come out.

"Do what?" Carol asked.

Daryl groaned again. It couldn't have come out any less like he'd planned if all he'd have said was that he wanted to mate with her.

"Me an' you…what we doin'. How long ya wanna do it?" He clarified. Nope. It wasn't any better, but he prayed that Carol could muddle her way through it.

"You mean sleep together?" Carol asked. "I…how long did you want to?"

Daryl sighed.

"Was ya thinkin' this is somethin' that ain't gonna last for long or ya reckon that…" Daryl paused. "Damn it, I ain't no good at this shit. I'm damn sorry for it…is it ruttin' or we matin' for life? I don't know how the hell to do any of this shit!"

Daryl could feel his blood boiling almost with irritation and embarrassment at himself. He wasn't good at this shit. He didn't even know what he was doing and he didn't know how to ask questions to someone like Carol that got across what the hell he wanted to say. He wasn't good at talking about feelings…especially not ones that had him feeling like he was going crazy a little.

Daryl didn't know what he expected Carol to do, but it wasn't to start laughing. It wasn't the same kind of hearty laugh that Alice had enjoyed at his expense, but it was more than a chuckle.

"I think you're just fine," Carol said after a second. She brought her fingertips to his lips and he kissed them the split second before she moved them and replaced them with her lips, kissing him quickly and softly. "I don't want to answer that, though…until I know what you want."

"Well that ain't fair," Daryl responded.

"I don't want to make you feel pressured or anything else," Carol said. "I want to do what you want."

Daryl growled a little in his throat. She wanted to do what the hell anyone wanted her to do most of the time. Though he'd seen it himself that every now and again she'd get her panties twisted and do what the hell she wanted. She was getting more and more interested in what she wanted, and he liked that, but so much of her still seemed afraid to rock the boat. Now she didn't want to give him an answer.

"An' what if ya don't want what I want?" Daryl asked.

Carol was silent for a minute and Daryl thought he felt her tense again, though he didn't know what to contribute it to at the moment.

"I love you…" Carol said softly. So softly, in fact, that the words made Daryl's heart stop for a second while his ears tried to doubt that he'd even heard them. "I'll always want what you want."

"Ya love me?" Daryl asked.

There was no response. Daryl put his hand on Carol's waist, what he could find at the moment, and he could tell she was tense…and he knew she was still there, but she wasn't responding.

"I asked if ya said ya loved me," Daryl repeated.

Carol hummed in the affirmative and Daryl smiled to himself. He hadn't expected her to say it, but now that he'd heard the words, they weren't as terrifying as he might have once thought they'd be.

"Me too," Daryl said. Then his heart really did feel like it wanted to explode. If he said the words then he was saying something he'd never said to anyone but his mother before.

"What?" Carol asked, sounding shocked.

"Said I reckon I love ya too," Daryl said.

Carol was quiet for another minute and then Daryl heard her snicker before he felt her soft, cold hand on his chest followed by the soft, quick kisses she liked to put there.

"So is this for life?" She asked. "Or what?"

Daryl snickered, the panic brought on by the revelation already fading. He sighed.

"Reckon it's for life," he said.

"Ok," Carol said.

And Daryl didn't know if it required more than that in a conversation like this or not, but he was satisfied, and it seemed she must be too because she didn't say anything else. The conversations in his head…the ones that never made it out…had been a lot more complicated, but in the end he hadn't really needed them.

Somehow, Carol had understood him.

Carol kissed his chest again and he reached his hand down, finding the hem of her shirt and sliding his hand under it to go in search of the soft skin of her breasts.

"Just 'cause it's for life an' all, though," Daryl said, leaning and kissing Carol's forehead while his hand made its mark and he squeezed gently. "Don't mean there can't be ruttin' too…"

Carol snickered and without saying anything, moved around to come to her knees, Daryl's hand following her so that he could find her in the darkness, and took off her shirt.


	46. Chapter 46

**AN: Here you go. A little something more for everyone.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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If she'd been asked to make a timeline of things, Carol honestly wouldn't have been able to say if she'd heard Alice screaming first or if she'd heard the gunshot first. She'd been cooking over the low fire, really almost ashes, that she'd built near the prison in her customary position and glanced down toward the gates where others were keeping watch.

By the time she looked in that direction, though, she couldn't see any of them. When the second shot rang out, Carol realized it was because they'd hit the ground and she'd be wise to do the same.

Carol got down as quickly as she could and tried to figure out what was going on and what they should do. Her time to think, however, was relatively short because they came under heavy fire not long after that.

Carol lie in the dirt, as flat as she could get, and prayed that she could figure out what was the right thing to do. She was unarmed…at least as far as a gun went…and even if she hadn't been, she'd suddenly lost any faith she might have had before in her ability to even use a weapon. She lifted her head enough to turn it.

There was screaming from a motley of voices and her ears couldn't even be bothered to distinguish if they were male or female, and even less where they came from. There were gunshots and she could only hope that some of them were coming from their group…and that no one was hit.

Finally, realizing she couldn't lie in the dirt with bullets ricocheting around her, Carol got to her feet as quickly as she could and ran for the closest cover she could reach, the base of the guard tower, a bullet slamming into the wall and sending shrapnel everywhere just as she reached the cover.

She slumped a moment, realizing she'd just come within milliseconds of losing her life. She tried to see what was going on, but the chaos was too complete.

Merle had been outside the fence…Alice had been outside the fence…they were doing different things, but their locations would have been similar. Michonne and Carl were down in the bottom part of the yard. They would have been responsible for letting them in…if they ever got let in. Carol knew that all four of them had guns, though with their scanty amount of ammunition the guns were almost not effective if the Governor was shooting at them.

Glenn and Maggie were supposed to be in the watch tower, above Carol, and when she focused her hearing she could distinguish gunfire coming from there, and she could hear the sound of bullets hitting the building too. She kept her back to the building, not sure where to go or how she might acquire some kind of weapon to help defend the group.

Daryl and Rick had been in the yard too…they'd been doing a check…but she didn't dare to look around at the moment and try to find anyone. Not until she had a better plan than just hoping for the best.

Finally she gathered up her courage and worked her way around the building, attempting to keep the structure between herself and the direction from which the bullets were coming. She saw Rick and Daryl then, trying to keep low and make their way slowly toward the lower part of the yard where the Governor and his men…however many there were…seemed to be located.

"Carol…" Daryl hissed. Carol saw him looking at her, barely taking any sort of cover for himself. "Get inside the fuckin' prison."

Carol wanted to protest, but she didn't have a weapon and they didn't seem to have one to spare. She just nodded at him dramatically so that he wouldn't look at her too long and be distracted, and then she flattened herself against the building again, edging her way around while the two men ran into the thick of things.

Carol finally eased around, a few more bullets coming too close for comfort, and found the door to the watchtower. She slipped into it and stopped in the stairwell a minute to let her pounding heart slow to a rhythm that didn't make her feel like she could die within minutes. She made her way up, then, keeping low to the floor when she came through the door.

Glenn and Maggie were both hunkered low and hiding behind the barricade they'd made of the old table that was up there. Carol could see light shining through it which told her immediately that it didn't exactly serve as a proper bullet proof shield, but it was better than nothing.

"Either one of you hit?" She asked.

Glenn glanced at her, not having realized that she'd made her way in there.

"No," he responded. "From what I can see, no one is."

"Did you see Daddy?" Maggie asked, dropping against the wall to try to load the gun she had. "Beth?"

"They were inside," Carol said. With any luck they'd stayed that way. Their group couldn't have been more poorly prepared for this attack if they'd all be suicidal.

Carol crawled across the floor to where she saw some of the extra guns in a duffle bag. She pulled one out and checked to see if the rifle was loaded. Satisfied that it was, she crawled over into the somewhat open space that they were shooting from and took aim, firing in the direction of the four or five trucks that were parked outside the fences…men milling around them.

She doubted she'd hit anything though. The only good thing was that it seemed that the Governor and his men were as poor at shooting as all of them were with the distance. Bullets ricocheted around them, but thankfully missed their mark.

And then as suddenly as it had begun, the gunfire ended. Carol raised her rifle to use the scope more than anything and looked back out over the yard. From what she could see, the man she assumed was the Governor, sporting an eye patch and holding a rifle, was standing by a truck…if anyone had a gun with the right range they could have taken him out in a heartbeat.

Everyone else, though, all the other men of the group, had taken cover in the trucks and they were backing up….they were leaving the prison.

"They're going," Carol panted, not realizing until this moment that she was out of breath. "They're leaving…"

"Does that mean we won?" Glenn asked, sounding confused. He moved shoulder to shoulder beside Carol and looked through the scope on his own weapon, scanning the area below and watching the trucks leave with her.

"Everyone OK?" Maggie asked, crawling forward. "Can you see everyone?"

Carol began to scan the yard to try to figure out who was out there…and where they were. She couldn't see too much, though. She thought she spotted Carl…or what small part of him was visible…hiding behind one of the vihicles parked in the yard.

Michonne was milling about too, obviously unconcerned for the moment that the Governor might begin shooting again…but that was all Carol could spot.

And then suddenly Glenn yelped and Carol realized what Michonne's attention was focused on…what it was that had her caring less about the Governor's presence.

A large truck roared suddenly through the gates, plowing through the doors, and into the prison yard. In what seemed like only a matter of seconds, the back of the truck was heaved open and a hoard of Walkers…easily forty or fifty…came rushing out of the back of the truck.

And then there was more gunfire and Carol saw Michonne disappear for a moment, in the thick of the herd of Walkers, before reappearing, her blade out and glimmering in the light.

Daryl appeared then, working away at the Walkers too.

Carol lowered her gun, her stomach clenched in panic at the thought of Walkers in their prison yard. The fences were down now…the gate open. More could get in…and they could make it all the way to the prison. With the fences down they were totally vulnerable to attack.

Carol put down the gun, spent of ammunition anyway, and darted out of the tower as quickly as she could, pulling her knife from the holster and ignoring whatever protests were coming from Glenn and Maggie above.

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Daryl hadn't expected the truck full of Walkers…he hadn't expected any of it really, but the truck full of Walkers had been a complete surprise.

When it had roared through the fence he'd been doing his best to get a good shot on the Governor, doubting the rifle he had would cover the distance. The asshole was standing out in the open and it was even more annoying because he seemed to know that they didn't have anything with enough power to cover the distance accurately to snipe his ass.

And Daryl didn't have on hot idea where the hell anyone else was at. Rick had gone running off somewhere presumably going to check on his kids…and for all Daryl knew his brother was in the thick of shit because he'd had his ass outside the fences…right out there where the Governor and his men were. Daryl could only hope that Merle was still out there and he got a golden opportunity to snipe the fucker…but then that didn't seem very likely once the truck plowed down their fence, surprising the hell out of Daryl and probably everyone around.

He had, at least, manage to take out both the fucker that had been driving the truck and the one that had somehow been positioned to open the back of it. He'd dropped them both, but not before one of them shot Michonne…or at least he'd thought she'd been shot with the way she'd hit the ground.

She didn't look to injured at the moment, though. She was too busy hacking at Walkers that were spreading around her…and around him.

They were going to play hell if they wanted to ever gain this part of the yard back for themselves. It would be no easy task to keep the outside Walkers at bay while someone rigged a way to repair the smashed gates.

Still, at least the son of a bitch Governor and his gang of merry fuckers were gone for the moment…and at least Daryl didn't have to worry about Carol. He'd seen her pretty early on in the game and sent her inside the prison. He didn't need to be worried about anyone…worry made you reckless and reckless gets you killed.

Daryl had thought that too soon, though…because it wasn't too long after that when he saw Carol, barreling down through the yard with Melodye not far behind her, both of them running straight for the oncoming Walkers.

Daryl did his best to take down as many of the half rotted and animated corpses that he could, but he knew they were going to get their chance to take some down too…or either they were going to get their asses chewed up for sport if they failed.

"Thought I told ya ta get'cha fuckin' ass in the prison!" Daryl growled, making his way through the Walkers toward where Carol was fighting.

"Told you!" She called back. "I'm not hiding inside!"

"Gonna get'cha ass killed!" Daryl spat back, getting closer to her and taking out one Walker just before it met the point of her knife. She was panting, but she still lunged forward after another.

"I've got just as good a chance as anyone else!" Carol spat back at him, not letting up on her efforts to help clear the yard.

Daryl didn't know where anyone else was, being unable to see anyone but Carol and Michonne at the exact moment, and he hoped that anyone who could was coming up with at least some way to block the destroyed gates and stop anymore Walkers from moseying right on into the space from the outside.

At the rate they were going, they had a chance to get control again if they could stop things from getting worse. They had a chance, at least, of cleaning up this mess. They hadn't lost this battle…at least not entirely.

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"That may be the end of it," Rick insisted when the group was gathered together inside the prison.

Merle chuckled.

"That weren't the endin'…" Merle said. "That was more like an appetizer…Governor don't give up that damn easy."

"It's going to take us at least a couple of days to get those gates fixed," Glenn offered. Those trucks we moved aren't going to keep Walkers out forever."

"We'll fix the gates," Rick said. "That's the first thing we need to do."

"First damn thing we need ta do is put an end ta this sorrow son of a bitch's life," Daryl spat. "Them fences ain't gon' mean shit if he comes back with guns like that."

The group had come through the attack pretty much unscathed…but then the Governor's men hadn't suffered too much either. There had been three casualties on the Governor's side. Daryl had shot the two men in the yard that had been responsible for releasing the Governor's collection of Walkers, and Merle had killed one outside the gates that had been responsible for the first shot. The first shot had been meant for Alice and missed its mark, eliciting the scream that warned of the onset of the attack. The second shot had been Alice missing the man, which she explained was mostly owning to fact that she was better at hitting people with guns than with bullets, and Merle had been close enough that he managed to stab the man and drag her into the woods for cover for what remained of the battle.

No one in their group had died. No one had actually been injured, really, except for Michonne who had been grazed by a bullet from one of the men in the yard that had paid for their loyalty to the Governor with their life at the hands of Daryl.

At best it was a sloppy battle on both sides, and if it were the end of everything they could have simply declared no harm, no foul…but several people were inclined to believe they hadn't seen the last of the man who called himself the Governor.

"He collects Walkers," Michonne said. "He keeps them in storage. They're pretty easy to come by for someone looking to gather them up."

"And then he turns them loose on us," Glenn said with a sigh.

"That's why the fuck we gotta end it," Merle said. "He'da killed ever' damn one a' us today if he'd had a mind ta do it. Don't'cha think it was no accident that he didn't."

Rick sighed and looked at Merle like he wanted to choke the man.

"If he wanted to kill us, then, why didn't he? Goodness knows we weren't prepared," Rick admitted.

Merle chuckled again, finding some kind of amusement in the whole "told you so" factor of what had happened.

"Like a damn cat with a mouse," Merle said. "He ain't gon' kill us that easy…hell nah…ain't excitin' enough ta just roll up an' shoot us all down…he wants ta make an impact. He'll be back."

Daryl growled a little from where he was pacing near the wall of the common area where everyone was gathered.

"I gotta agree with Merle. He ain't done. Asshole's gonna be back an' if today was any damn show a' things then we ain't gonna beat him out then neither. We ain't got what the hell it takes. We lack the fuckin' guns he's got…fucker was shootin' at us while sittin' damn pretty outside our range a' fire," Daryl said.

"We could go out on a run," Hershel offered. "We could look for better guns…"

Merle chuckled again.

"Better get'cha some damn better shots too," he said, directing his gaze at Alice who flipped him off.

"I didn't say I was a fucking soldier…I'd just like to point that out, not that anyone gives a shit," she said with a sigh.

"None of us are," Melodye jumped in. "I'm not a soldier…I never even wanted to be."

"Ya best be learnin' ta be one now, sweetcheeks," Merle said. "Least if we ain't gon' do this the damn way we shoulda done it in the first place."

"So you still think that the way to handle this is to go to his town?" Rick asked. "Just stroll in there and shoot the man and the devil may care with everyone else?"

"Didn't 'xactly see him givin' a shit what happened ta nobody here when he busted down our fence after he tried ta shoot us up," Merle said. "Least if we do it our way…ain't too damn many people even gotta fuckin' know we comin' ta his town…we gon' roll in like Santy Clause an' leave the fucker cold in his sleep."

"It's what needs to be done," Michonne offered. "I'll go in…do it myself if I have to."

"Ain't goin' in alone," Daryl offered. "I'm goin' after his ass. He coulda killed every last damn one a' us today."

"I'll keep watch…" Alice offered. "If I tried to shoot him I'd probably miss…point blank."

Merle chuckled.

"I'll kill him myself," Merle said. "Ya can all keep ya damn lily white hands clean if that's what the fuck ya want. Hell, ain't gon' be the first son of a bitch I killed."

Rick sighed loudly.

"We don't know he's coming back," Rick said. "He might have gotten what he needed today. He might figure that we'd fall with the gates down."

"Sounds like he'd come back to check, though," Carol offered, throwing in her two cents for the first time since the entire conversation started.

"If they go at night…" Maggie offered, a little timidly, "then nobody else has to die…just him."

"So you're all on board with this?" Rick asked. "You all think that we ought to go to this town and try to kill their leader? A man they're all probably willing to protect?"

When no one answered in any distinct manner, no one really wanting to admit that was exactly what they were proposing and no one wanting to lie and deny it either…Rick stood up and paced a little.

"And what happens when the good people of…what is the town called?" Rick said.

"Woodbury," Michonne offered.

"What happens when the good people of Woodbury try to retaliate because they don't know what's going on? What happens when they try to stand up for their leader who they see as being killed in cold blood?" Rick asked. "Do you shoot anyone who opposes us?"

There was a collective shared glance. It was true that the townspeople or whatever you wished to call them, might not have any idea what was taking place in the fair hamlet. They may not know what kind of man their Governor was, and they may not take kindly to discovering an assassination.

"'S a chance we gotta fuckin' take," Merle said. "What the hell else we gonna do?"

"I say we wait until we know if he's even going to come back," Rick said. "We tighten our watches…repair our fences…keep a guard somewhere if we have to, but if he doesn't come back…if this is all there is to it then we might be the ones starting a war by going there."

"If we roll over an' stick our damn legs up in the air we just waitin' on him ta come back an' do what the hell he ain't did today," Daryl said.

"He's already come here," Michonne said. "We said he'd come, and he did. He'll be back."

"I'm not for killing people," Alice offered, "unless they need to be killed...this one…he needs to be killed."

"You're a doctor," Rick said, looking at her with disbelief.

She shrugged.

"I'm a human first," she offered.

"Let's fix the fences," Rick said. "Sleep on it tonight. Let everyone just calm down a little. Things might look different tomorrow when everyone's calmed down some."

Merle chuckled again.

"Might look real different if he comes back tomorrow with an even bigger damn surprise for us all…" Merle growled.

Daryl sighed loudly, a lighter growl escaping him than the one that had earlier.

"We ain't doin' nothin' tonight no way," Daryl said. "Too damn dark an' we ain't got a plan…'sides…tonight he'll be waitin' for us ta retaliate…an' we don't want him ta see us comin'."

"So we discuss it further tomorrow?" Rick asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh…we gon' discuss it," Daryl said. He turned then and started out the door of the prison into the darkness, leaving most of the group with the clear knowledge that for the night the case was closed…but that was only for the night.


	47. Chapter 47

**AN: Hi everyone. A little something more for you.**

**As always, I know I don't always get around to personally thanking you for your reviews and comments but I want you to know they're always appreciated. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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It had been one full day since the attack of the Governor and his men. The group had burned the three bodies of the men that had met their deaths during the attack and they'd almost cleared the lower part of the yard of Walker corpses as well, thought that was a much slower process.

Daryl and Merle had tried to reason with Rick that the man would be back. He wasn't going to come rolling in there, orchestrate the kind of attack that he had, and then just bail out gracefully. He was a madman in a world without authority…that probably wasn't how he worked at all.

Still, Rick was clinging to some idea that they would actually be in the wrong if they went to Woodbury with assassination plans. They would be starting something…and it might be something that they couldn't follow through with if the townspeople retaliated. Merle was of the mind, though, that if they removed the Governor from power…and took out the men that Merle identified as being lost causes because they were blinded to the Governor's real nature, they could reason with the rest of the town. He considered most of the people there as following along like sheep anyway…so they could either leave the sheep to graze in piece or try to join forces with them perhaps.

But for the time being they were burning corpses and trying to repair the gates as best they could so that they could use them to pass in and out of the prison while still offering some protection, though it was going to be notably less than before the truck had driven through them.

And Daryl suspected that his brother had something up his sleeve. He suspected that Merle, given the chance, was planning to go alone and take care of the job. Merle had a devil may care attitude and didn't pretend for a moment to really respect Rick's authority as any type of leader for the group. Merle had always had a problem with authority, and Daryl didn't suspect that the end of the world as they'd known it had done anything to change that really.

Daryl had to admit, at least to himself, that he was more on board with Merle's plan to go quietly and handle things himself than he was with Rick's. He hated to defy Rick's wishes entirely, but he feared the Governor would return…and he really wasn't hoping to lose anyone they had left.

But for the time being, at least while he stewed it over, Daryl was helping to move bodies and circling around now and again to where Glenn was working, perched on top of one of the trucks they'd move to block the gate, to get the gate functioning once more.

That was when he saw that one of the Walkers rambling in the distance, one of them heading toward the prison, was likely not a Walker at all. From the distance, the movements of the Walker, even though it was surrounded by other Walkers and still moving along calmly, weren't the stiff and jerky movements of a typical animated corpse. It was a person…though from his current location Daryl couldn't tell much more than that.

Daryl made his way to the truck where Glenn was and whistled up, catching the Korean boy's attention.

"Can ya see that person comin'?" Daryl asked.

"What?" Glenn called down, stilling his work and coming to look over the side of the truck at Daryl.

"Look out toward the road," Daryl instructed. "Amongst them Walkers there's a person comin'. Can ya see 'em?"

Glenn looked at Daryl as though he'd lost his mind and Daryl realized that were he in Glenn's position he might have thought the very same thing. It would be ridiculous to hear someone suggest that a person was ambling about in a bunch of Walkers without trouble, but that's what it was. They'd seen it before, though, and it meant the person had some sort of Walker camouflage.

Glenn disappeared from Daryl's view for a moment, lifting the binoculars he kept on top of the truck to try to find the person.

"It's Andrea! Daryl! It's Andrea!" Glenn called. He hopped a little once Daryl could see him and then disappeared again, probably to make his way off the truck.

"Andrea!" Daryl called toward Rick who was approaching. "It's Andrea comin'."

Rick rushed down toward where they were and was waiting in the crack where the gate still didn't actually close, having not been fixed sufficiently to do so at this point, when Andrea reached them, leading a Walker at the end of a hook that was suited, apparently, for keeping possibly violent animals at a distance or for leashing Walkers.

When Andrea got to the gate, before a word was exchanged, Rick leaned a little out the crack and she dropped the Walker she had in front of her. Rick grabbed her by the arm and yanked her through the crack, dragging her roughly away from the trucks and into the cleared and more protected part of the yard before pushing her down.

Andrea hit her knees with a solid yelp and Rick grabbed the backpack on her back and yanked it off of her, throwing it to the side before catching her around the back of the neck.

Daryl, with Glenn beside him now, stood as dumbstruck as the boy.

"Do you have any weapons?" Rick barked at Andrea. He shook her by the back of the neck despite the fact that she remained on her knees with her hands raised in the air in surrender. "Do you have any weapons?" Rick repeated.

"Knife…" Andrea coughed out. "Pistol…"

Rick reached down and located the weapons, his hand still firmly grasping the back of Andrea's neck. She hadn't moved at all. He tossed her weapons to the side in the yard.

"Rick…ease up man," Daryl said finally. "It's Andrea."

Daryl still couldn't believe that Andrea was there, in front of him, on the ground. He'd been sure that the woman was dead. He'd been sure that she had died on the farm and that they'd never see her again. Even hearing others confirm that she was alive and in Woodbury hadn't made him entirely believe it.

"It's me…Rick," Andrea offered.

Rick shoved her forward when he let go of her neck and she caught herself in the dirt, her hands going in front of her. She froze there, unmoving, and Daryl started toward her. Rick stopped him, putting his hand on his chest and Daryl let his eyes connect with Rick's hoping to remind him that he didn't take kindly to people putting their hands on him…not in the somewhat threatening manner that he felt Rick had just touched him.

"She's sleeping with him," Rick said, his voice low, but not low enough that anyone around could have heard it. "She's with him."

"An' she's alone right now an' ain't got a fuckin' weapon," Daryl growled, matching the volume of his voice with Rick's.

Daryl shouldered past Rick then and went to where Andrea was frozen, probably afraid to move, less likely to gain her feet. He reached down, grabbing her under the arm and heaving her up. She gained her feet quickly and looked at Daryl. He was struck for a moment that she looked almost terrified. He didn't say anything, though, he just pulled at her arm, leading her in the direction of the prison.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Your boyfriend came here and he attacked us!" Rick spat.

Everyone had gathered around and Daryl hated to admit that it looked more like a sporting event than a meeting with Andrea in the middle of the ring facing Rick.

"He said that you attacked Woodbury," Andrea said.

"Why would we do that? Why would we attack a town if it's as big as you say it is?" Rick asked.

Andrea shrugged, looking a little lost. Daryl felt sorry for her for a moment. She seemed to honestly believe that the man, Philip Blake, wasn't the awful kind of individual that he was. She wasn't gaining much support, though, from this crowd. Michonne was leaned against the wall glaring at her and Merle wasn't jumping to her rescue. No one else really seemed to know what to do, having only heard bits and pieces of the stories of what became of Andrea after the farm.

"I don't know," Andrea said. "I didn't come here to fight, Rick. If you talked to him. Agreed to meet him. He would meet you in a couple of days…there's a barn that's about halfway between here and Woodbury…it's got grain bins."

"Know the place," Merle growled, the first words he'd offered.

Andrea glanced at him and then back at Rick.

"Talk to him…talk it out. There doesn't have to be anymore killing," Andrea said.

"He wants to talk about it?" Rick asked. He seemed to be calming slightly from his earlier anger with the woman, but he wasn't entirely level headed.

Andrea nodded.

"Fine," Rick said. "Tell your boyfriend I'll meet him in two days…at this barn that Merle knows about. Tell him not to get any ideas, though. We won't hesitate to fight back."

Andrea stuttered something before finally stopping her attempt at speaking and nodding her head.

"It's a good idea…Rick," Andrea said after a second. "It's…it's probably the only idea. He's building an army to protect Woodbury…it's enough people that they outnumber everyone here by at least three or four times. A fight would just end badly…and the people in Woodbury are good people."

Rick stepped toward her, pointing his finger at her.

"Just tell him we'll meet," Rick said. "We don't want a war either, but if he comes back here we have to fight to live."

Andrea nodded and Rick stepped out of the space quickly. Glenn was the next to leave, without a word, and Daryl followed Glenn out to get back to what they were doing. He didn't know what to say to Andrea…or if there was anything that he could say, so he opted to retain the silence between them. He heard Merle following behind him and figured that was probably it for their discussion with the woman that they'd once known and counted among their ranks…she was alive, but she was still gone.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Everyone hates me," Andrea said to Carol as Carol got Judith out of the mail box that served as her crib.

"Everyone doesn't hate you," Carol said. "Things haven't been easy…"

Andrea chuckled and swallowed and Carol felt sorry for her. Andrea had been on the verge of tears since Daryl had led her into the prison like a prisoner of war. Carol had wrapped the woman in a hug, forgetting that everyone seemed to regard her as a threat. To Carol she was just Andrea…her friend and someone she'd thought was long dead.

"Things haven't been easy anywhere," Andrea said.

Carol nodded her understanding.

"We thought you were dead…" Carol said. She realized it probably wasn't much of a consolation to the woman who had been left behind, but it was all they had. "They left me too. I hadn't seen you since you saved me…thank you for that."

Andrea nodded, her eyes still brimming with tears.

"It was nothing," she said. "I lost you after that…"

Carol nodded slightly, rocking the baby a little that was looking up at her.

"I probably wouldn't have made it off the farm," Carol said. "Daryl saved me."

Andrea nodded again.

"Do you want to hold her?" Carol asked, offering Andrea the baby. Andrea smiled, and Carol put the baby in her arms.

"What's her name?" Andrea asked.

Carol smiled.

"Well, her name is Judith," Carol offered. "But Daryl calls her Lil' Asskicker."

Andrea smiled.

"That sounds like Daryl…" she said.

Carol nodded her head. She watched as Andrea nuzzled the baby. After a moment, Andrea looked at her.

"And T-Dog? And Lori?" Andrea asked.

Carol nodded, hoping that the face she made conveyed most of the information.

"Lori needed a C-section," Carol offered. "Maggie…she did what she had to do. Carl put her down."

"Oh my God!" Andrea said.

Carol nodded again.

"T-Dog was bit…he led me through the prison…sacrificed himself so I could live. Daryl found me," Carol said.

Andrea stood there a moment, cradling Judith and staring off at the floor. Carol imagined that maybe the woman was remembering their friends. Maybe she was saying some sort of goodbye to them in her mind. There was really no telling these days what was hid behind silence.

"Michonne probably hates me," Andrea said after a moment. "She saved me after the farm…and…"

Carol nodded her head again. She smiled.

"I think I got the gist of the story," Carol said.

Andrea sighed.

"I never meant for things to happen like they did. I don't even know what to believe anymore…about Philip…about anything. I didn't know that he came here," she hesitated. "I was stupid, I guess…I believed him when he said it was retaliation."

Carol saw the tears brimming in Andrea's eyes again and she reached, squeezing Andrea's shoulder a little before she took the baby back and deposited her back in her little box.

Carol turned her eyes toward Andrea.

"You could end this, you know?" Carol said. "You could put a stop to it."

Andrea shook her head.

"I…I don't have that kind of influence," Andrea said.

Carol couldn't believe she was going to say this, but it needed to be said. This man, the Governor, needed to be ended and one way or another he eventually would be. The question was how and how many people he would take out before he went. Eventually Merle or Michonne or Daryl would find a way to sniper the man…but how many deaths had to happen before that?

Carol was losing faith in Rick. He wasn't making decisions like he used to…he hadn't made decisions in a long time. She thought that maybe, once upon a time, they'd put their faith in him because he'd been a police officer. Maybe they'd put their faith in him because he was the only one that seemed fine with being a leader. These days, though, it was more and more difficult to put their faith in him…and this situation with the Governor was making that painfully obvious. Carol worried that if he went to negotiate with the man that nothing would come of it and they'd end up just having to fight anyway…and they'd lose people.

Carol sighed.

"You're close to him," she said. "You could end this. Give him the best night of his life, Andrea. When he passes out, put an end to it."

Andrea looked at her wide eyed and Carol understood the expression. She couldn't believe she was suggesting it, but the way she saw it, this was the best way to end this. It was a way to end it fast and it was a way to end it clean. They could be rid of him.

"I…" Andrea said, shaking her head a little.

"You could fix this," Carol said. "At least think about it."

"They'd kill me," Andrea offered. "The people of Woodbury…they see him as a leader. I didn't know until today what was going on…they don't know it either."

"Get out of Woodbury after you do it," Carol said. "You got her with the Walker…do it again."

"Rick won't let me back in," Andrea said. "You saw that, he hates me."

Carol sighed.

"He might not like it, but he'd let you back in," Carol said. "Rick's not the only authority around here. Besides…Merle's back."

"He's Daryl's brother," Andrea offered.

"And you're our friend. We'll make it work," Carol said. "End the Governor, and you can come back…and we won't leave you again."

Andrea shook her head slightly, gazing off at the floor. Carol knew that the woman probably had a ton of doubts about the group. She'd been left for dead. That alone was enough to make you wonder. On top of that she hadn't received a great welcome today. Still, Carol was confident that they could bring Andrea back into the group…she was confident that they could get over their differences, just as everyone had with Merle…especially if Andrea ended the Governor's reign.

"Think about it," Carol repeated. She reached out and Andrea hugged her. Carol took a moment, thankful for the embrace of someone she'd thought she'd lost…hoping that somehow Andrea worked this problem out and she wasn't lost to them forever. "You have a place here…you just have to come back and reclaim it," Carol said, pulling away. She smiled at Andrea, the tears having returned to the blonde's eyes. "I'll fix you something to eat before you go."

Andrea nodded and Carol walked toward the storage area where they kept the food, leaving Andrea to think things over. Carol didn't know if negotiations with the Governor would actually work out in their favor. She didn't know if Andrea would take her advice and kill the man. She didn't know what would happen at all, but she was hopeful that somehow they would overcome this, and she hoped…though she was keeping it to herself…that it wouldn't cost them any lives and that they might, even though it would take a little work, be able to count Andrea among their numbers again as a friend and not as an enemy.


End file.
